Moved by Councillor Scott, seconded by
Councillor Weldon –
It is resolved that:
(A)
Council
note:
(i)
the
Eveleigh Hotel is a gambling free family friendly community hub at 158
Abercrombie Street;
(ii)
the
family-run business has been operating for over a decade;
(iii)
the
Eveleigh Hotel have reported that they have been the subject of noise
complaints by a neighbour, and as such Council actions have resulted in
restrictions on the Hotel;
(iv)
past
restrictions issued by Council have been adhered to by the hotel, at immense cost and personal effort by their management
and staff;
(v)
the
Hotel has already carried out renovations of an estimated $60,000 in recent
years, responding with great patience to the Council’s comments;
(vi)
they
are currently carrying out yet more renovations;
(vii)
the
City’s attempts to resolve the noise issue through a voluntary process over the
last six month had been unsuccessful so the City recently advised the Hotel
more formal action may be taken. The Hotel responded with a commitment to
engage an acoustic specialist, remove or relocate a speaker, lay carpet and
underlay and instal acoustic panels;
(viii)
the
Eveleigh Hotel report that the latest restrictions,
however, threaten the survival of the Hotel;
(ix)
the
latest restrictions issued by council mean that:
(a) outdoor seating is reduced again, to a
maximum of six people on two tables until 8pm;
(b) the outdoor seating area is reduced from
7.8m2 to 6m2 in response to gathering of patrons on the footpath outside the
pub having adverse impacts on the neighbouring properties and for pedestrians
moving past the site;
(c) side windows and doors must be closed to
prevent noise leakage;
(d) costly renovations must again take place to
reduce noise leakage; and
(e) the applicant’s footway submission sought to
renew their existing approval including trading to 8.00 pm. The City approved
the hours applied for and there was no reduction in trading hours;
(x)
the
Hotel operators have been assured by City staff that live music can continue;
(xi)
these
restrictions have cultivated an environment of anxiousness for the hotel, which
has, in one case, led to an actual stress-related physical illness for which an
ambulance had to be called during a shift;
(xii)
the
Eveleigh Hotel have foremost called for the retraction of the latest
restrictions and a reconsideration of past ones;
(xiii)
the
Eveleigh Hotel would like to offer:
(a) modest live music events, such as jazz music
on a Saturday afternoon; and
(b) a restrained provision of outdoor seating,
for nine persons on three tables until 9pm;
(xiv)
the
Eveleigh Hotel has started a petition for the restrictions to be removed, which
has gained 2,076 signatures within six days of its publishing;
(xv)
the
reasons that the Eveleigh Hotel find the imposed restrictions to be
unreasonable are as outlined:
(a) the live music presented is distinctly
family-friendly, both in noise-levels and in character. The live jazz events
which take place on Saturday afternoons finish at a modest 7pm;
(b) the window closing restrictions reduce air
flow to unsafe levels within the pub and, as a result, the atmosphere will be
too hot for comfort during the summer, and, in addition, the oxygen levels will
be reduced which is particularly dangerous in light of the ongoing Covid-19
pandemic. Encouraging air-flow through open windows and doors was an intrinsic
element of the hotel’s architectural design 150 years ago; and
(c) according to a noise assessment carried out
by an independent audio specialist in 2019, Acoustic Logic Consultancy, noise
levels were judged not to exceed the limits upheld by the council;
(xvi)
the
sentiment expressed in the imposition of these restrictions is
counter-intuitive to the NSW Government’s claims to support hotels in moving
away from gambling by promoting live music;
(xvii)
since
July last year, the City has approved nearly 320 outdoor dining applications.
Only one application has been refused;
(xviii)
the
City will continue to work with business operators to maximise the activation
of footpaths and streets whilst balancing the needs of other users and
surrounding neighbours;
(xix)
in
October of 2012, the City established a taskforce on Live music and
Performance;
(xx)
on 18
November 2013, the City of Sydney Council endorsed the Taskforce’s proposed
action plan, Live Music Matters: Planning for Live Music and Performance in
Sydney for public exhibition;
(xxi)
Live
Music Matters identified 57 short, medium and long-term remedial actions the
City of Sydney might take to support live music and live performance;
(xxii)
there
was a status report commissioned by the taskforce in 2017 and the last one
published was in 2018, revealing:
(a) a 61 per cent decline over a nine year period in Live Music or performance
listings, from 540 in 2004 to 213 in 2013;
(b) in 2012, the City of Sydney’s call centre
received 2,829 noise-related enquiries or complaints. Of these, 105 (less than
four per cent) were in connection with premises that programmed live music; and
(c) in December
2018, 58 per cent of the action plan has been implemented with an additional 28
per cent of actions in progress and 14 per cent yet to start or being
re-scoped; and
(xxiii)
in 2016, APRA AMCOS released a
report on live music revenue, revealing:
(a)
a 40 per cent drop in live
performance revenue at venues within the Sydney CBD lockout area; and
(b)
of venues with a Live Artist
Performance Licence, there was a 15 per cent overall decrease in value of venue
expenditure on live artist performers, that being 17 per cent for hotels bars
and nightclubs; and
(B)
the
Chief Executive Officer be requested to:
(i)
investigate
all options to ensure live music can continue at the Eveleigh Hotel; and
(ii)
ensure
any unbudgeted recommendations from the Taskforce and the City’s Live Music and
Performance Action Plan are funded in the City’s forthcoming budget.
Amendment.
Moved by Councillor Chan, seconded by Councillor Kok –
It is
resolved that:
(A) Council note:
(i)
the
Eveleigh Hotel is a gambling free family friendly community hub at 158
Abercrombie Street;
(ii)
the family-run
business has been operating for over a decade;
(iii)
the
Eveleigh Hotel have reported that they have been the subject of noise
complaints by a neighbour;
(iv)
the
City investigated noise complaints made about the Eveleigh Hotel, under State
legislation;
(v)
since
August 2022, City staff have been working with the Eveleigh Hotel owners by
providing advice on measures to reduce noise impacts;
(vi) the City’s attempts to resolve the noise
issue through a voluntary process over the last six months had been
unsuccessful so the City recently advised the Hotel more formal action may be
taken. The Hotel responded with a commitment to engage an acoustic specialist,
remove or relocate a speaker, lay carpet and underlay and install acoustic
panels;
(vii)
City
staff have advised the Eveleigh Hotel owners they will not take enforcement
action and live music can continue while noise mitigation works are undertaken;
(viii)
the
Eveleigh Hotel would like to offer:
(a) modest live music events, such as jazz music
on a Saturday afternoon; and
(b) a restrained provision of outdoor seating,
for nine persons on three tables until 9pm;
(ix)
the
Eveleigh Hotel has started a petition for the restrictions to be removed, which
has gained 2,076 signatures within six days of its publishing;
(x) since July last year, the City has approved nearly 320 outdoor dining applications. Only one application has been refused;
(xi) in January 2023, the Eveleigh Hotel was granted an outdoor dining approval for six square metres;
(xii) the City will continue to work with business operators to maximise the activation of footpaths and streets whilst balancing the needs of other users and surrounding neighbours;
(xiii) on Friday 10 March 2023, Councillors received a CEO Update detailing the investigation of noise complaints at the Eveleigh Hotel as well as the agreed noise attenuation works;
(xiv)
in 2014
Council adopted the Live Music and Performance Action Plan;
(xv)
the
Action Plan included 60 actions which the City of Sydney and/or the NSW
Government should take to support live music and live performance, with many of
these actions requiring collaboration with the live music and performance
sector;
(xvi)
the
majority of these actions have been implemented or superseded by other City policies
and strategies, while most of those remaining require action by other levels of
government; and
(xviii)
urgent
action is required to address the loss of live music and performance venues in
Sydney; and
(B) the Lord Mayor be requested to write to
relevant incoming Ministers requesting urgent action to address the loss of
live music and performance venues and to implement those outstanding Live Music
and Performance Action Plan actions which are the responsibility of the NSW
Government.
A show of
hands on the amendment resulted in an equality of voting as follows –
Ayes (5) The Chair (the Lord Mayor),
Councillors Chan, Davis, Kok and Scully
Noes (5) Councillors Ellsmore,
Gannon, Jarrett, Scott and Weldon.
The Chair (the Lord Mayor) exercised her casting vote in favour of the
amendment.
The amendment was declared carried.
Amendment. Moved by Councillor Scott, seconded by Councillor Jarrett –
That the motion be amended by the inclusion
of a clause (B) as follows (with remaining items to be renumbered accordingly) –
(B) the Chief Executive Officer be requested to:
(i)
investigate
all options to ensure live music can continue at the Eveleigh Hotel; and
(ii)
ensure
any unbudgeted recommendations from the Taskforce and the City’s Live Music and
Performance Action Plan are funded in the City’s forthcoming budget.
The amendment was lost on the following show of hands –
Ayes (4) Councillors Ellsmore,
Jarrett, Scott and Weldon
Noes (6) The Chair (the Lord Mayor),
Councillors Chan, Davis, Gannon, Kok and Scully.
Amendment lost.
The substantive motion was
carried on the following show of hands –
Ayes (9) The Chair (the Lord
Mayor), Councillors Chan, Davis, Ellsmore, Gannon, Kok, Scott, Scully and Weldon
Noes (1) Councillor Jarrett.
Amended motion carried.
X086655
Point of
Order
During
discussion of Item 11.10, Councillor Jarrett raised a point of order, stating
that the Chair (the Lord Mayor) had made an inappropriate comment in response
to the results of the vote on Councillor Chan’s amendment.
The Chair
(the Lord Mayor) upheld the point of order and retracted the comment.