The NSW government has announced a second tranche of changes to live music and entertainment regulations.
The Labor government’s so-called Vibrancy Reforms mean an end to several restrictions for licensed venues under the state’s Environmental Planning & Assessment Act.
A ban on live entertainment in hotels, clubs and small bars is to be overturned, as are development consent conditions specifying what genre of music or how many musicians can play at a venue.
‘No entertainment’ DA clauses banned
Local governments in NSW are to no longer be allowed to apply ‘no entertainment’ clauses on venues, a media release from the government read on Monday.
The clause can currently be introduced regardless of the type of entertainment, noise impacts or community desire, the release read, meaning even a mime artist would technically be banned from performing at a local venue.
Other examples cited included cover bands being allowed under current regulations but original music being banned, the Pocket Bar in Terrigal reportedly being forced to turn away a choir for having more than three members, and the Barangaroo House operating under conditions that make strobe lights and a disco ball a contravention.
Changes introduced include and ending to a state rule preventing people living within five kilometres of a registered club from signing in without first becoming a member.
Restrictions on outdoor dining approvals that prevented patrons from standing while drinking outside a licenced premises are to also be scrapped.
Vibrancy Reforms recapped
The second tranche of changes come after the first round of the government’s Vibrancy Reforms that the government says:
- permanently relaxed rules for outdoor dining to allowing venues to make the most of their outdoor space;
- ended single noise complaints from shutting down pubs and other licensed venues;
- made it easier to activate streets for festivals and events via the Open Streets program and a regulatory model called Permit, Plug, Play that allows streamlined approvals for repeat events;
- expanded Special Entertainment Precincts that empower local councils to change the rules around noise and opening hours in a designated area to support live entertainment and nightlife;
- increased incentives for live music and live performance, with two hours extended trading and an 80% reduction in liquor licence fees for licensed venues offering live music and performance;
- created easier pathways for extended trading hours for major events like the Olympics and World Cups.
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