Plan to revive Sydney’s nightlife receives backing

The Night-Time Industries Association (NTIA) has welcomed plans put forward by Sydney Lord Mayor to change trading regulations in Sydney and create a 24-hour city in a bid to revive the city’s night-life.

Moore has proposed extending 24-hour trading across the CBD; allowing shops, businesses and low-impact food and drink venues on main streets to trade until 2am; and new late-night trading areas in fast-growing areas like Barangaroo and Green Square.

The Lord Mayor said: “We’ve unveiled a new plan to create a more diverse and exciting nightlife in Sydney. Earlier this year, more than 10,000 people told us they want businesses and venues of all kinds to be open later.

“This plan is our response to that call – we’re rewarding well-managed venues while balancing the needs of all residents and visitors.”

The plan also includes establishing a new, 24-hour cultural precinct in Alexandria – located near Green Square Station and the new Waterloo Metro Station.

Moore added: “We want to reward venues who put on performances and live music, by allowing them to apply for an additional trading hour.

“We are setting the foundations for a truly global, 24-hour city – and now we want to hear again from [the public].

“The plan will be put on public exhibition after Council on Monday 19 November.”

With the plan looking beyond just the liquor and hospitality industry and focusing instead on creating a wider night-time economy, it has been welcomed by the newly-formed Night-Time Industries Association.

The NTIA Chair, Michael Rodrigues, told TheShout: “This a great step forward for Sydney and the Council should be congratulated for moving to support the night-time economy.

“This decision highlights the need for the NSW Government to work with the hospitality, entertainment and retail sectors to support the night-time economy. The time for outdated lockout laws have passed and they need to be removed and the regulations tying up night-time businesses in red-tape streamlined.”

He added: “To attract people in to the city again you need to support venues putting on entertainment. Banning live music and dancing as is the case at many venues today makes it almost impossible for venues to be successful.”

Moore unveiled the plan yesterday, and has already said that she has had “a terrific response” to the proposal.

She added: “We have an exciting new plan for the city’s night-time economy. It is 10 years since we reformed our planning controls, in that time we have strongly promoted small bars and we also brought out a policy called Sydney Open.

“The sort of exciting initiatives that we had going on in the city, in terms of activation of laneways and the small bars, really all stopped when the lockout laws came in.

“Post that, we’re looking for a new future for our city and for our city villages, and for former industrial areas like Alexandria.

“What we’re doing is we are creating a new landscape for Sydney. So in the city central we are proposing to extend trading hours there from 5am to 24 hours, so making the central area a 24-hour global city.

“We think there will be a really strong response from industry and we know there will be a strong response from the community because 10,000 people told us in March that they really wanted us to create a more interesting and diverse night time economy.”

The proposals do not include areas affected by the NSW Government’s lockout laws as the City of Sydney cannot override those state controls, but Moore said she hoped these proposals would helped disperse crowds and noise at night-time spots like Newtown and Surry Hills, which have seen huge increases in foot traffic since the lockouts were introduced.

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