Locals’ plea: ‘don’t stop the music’

Posted on 21 June, 2019

A bevy of local talent will perform in Garema Place today, in a concert sparked by the proposed Geocon hotel that live music advocates fear will kill the live music scene in the city..

International stars Hands Like Houses will be joined onstage by other local music sensations, hip hop artist Citizen Kay, punk girl group Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, and indie rock band Young Monks, for the hour-long concert that will kick off at 12.30pm.

The “Let Music Live” concert, organised by MusicACT, will include a public jam session and is part of International Make Music Day, a global celebration of music.

Hands Like Houses’ bass player Joel Tyrrell said the band hoped to highlight “how ridiculous” current sound laws and noise restrictions are, and which Canberrans might not be aware even existed.

Under existing legislation, the night-time limit for noise in Civic and in other major town centres such as Belconnen, Gungahlin, Woden and Tuggeranong is 50 decibels. That’s about the same level as a washing machine, or a conversation in your lounge room, and is in effect every day from 10 pm to 7 am, except for Sundays and public holidays, when it’s 10 pm to 8 am.

Mr Tyrrell said during high school and college the band used to play at the then all-ages music venue Sound Underground in Belconnen.

“We would also go to see a lot of other friends [play] and we had the ability to build this mini-community playing these shows,” Mr Tyrrell said.

“Looking back, I think because we were able to establish a base in Canberra, that then allowed us to push interstate, which then in turn led us to go overseas.

“And as our career progressed and the more our audience grew, it just became harder to find larger venues to play at because we were so limited by options.

“We had a couple of venues that could host 50-100 people, but there is quite a huge gap in the market in Canberra for mid-sized venues and bigger venues.

“It’s been quite tough for us to keep growing in Canberra because the opportunities just aren’t there with the venues.

“And if you don’t have the venues, interstate bands won’t come, international bands won’t come, and it becomes significantly harder for Canberra to grow any kind of music base.”

Geocon Managing Director Nick Georgalis says the $120 million Bunda Street hotel development will reinvigorate Garema Place and “be Canberra’s answer to The Ivy in Sydney”.

It will include a ballroom, a rooftop nightclub and swimming pool, restaurants and cafes, including Gus’ Place café, a gallery, 2500 metres of office space, as well as a 1000 square metre function room, which Geocon says could be used for “standing” events such as comedy nights and live music.

But MusicACT president David Caffery said that noise complaints from guests staying at the hotel could silence Civic bars, clubs and live music venues due to archaic sound laws that haven’t moved with the times.

“The current planning codes currently prioritise apartments and hotels and do not protect or allow for music venues in any way whatsoever,” Mr Caffery said.

“So the music venues that have operated to date have typically been breaking the sound limits, however, no one has been complaining. But now Canberra’s reached a growth point where there is a lot of development.

“We’re not against the [Geocon] hotel per se—we just want there to be legal protections so that when hotels are approved, places that support musicians are not shut down.

“Garema Place was the last place where we could have had a decent-sized music venue in the city. There’s nowhere else left in the city where there’s not someone sleeping.”

Dave Caffery with Ashley Feraude.

Mr Caffery said the neglected Garema Place offered an important opportunity for cultural vibrancy.

“We can buy shoes there, we can buy a drink there, and we should also be able to see some jazz there … but when you put a hotel right next to [Hippo], that means the jazz will have to stop.”

Mr Caffery pointed out that Civic nightclub Toast had been forced into closure because of noise complaints from visitors staying at Waldorf Canberra Apartment Hotel and that Sunday afternoon jazz at Parlour Wine Room in New Acton had similarly been shut down to resident complaints.

MusicACT has proposed three new planning zones to the ACT Government. The first, “shared zones,” would be appropriate for “mixed-use precincts,” such as New Acton and Lonsdale Street in Braddon.

The second, “entertainment zones,” could include Garema Place, Bunda Street and the Sydney Building in Civic, Mitchell, and area surrounding live music venue The Basement in Belconnen.

The third, “festival zones,” would allow “large-scale cultural activity in beautiful outdoor environments,” in unpopulated areas such as Majura or the Arboretum, where there would be “no [noise] limit inside the zone.”

Minister for Planning and Land Management Minister, Mick Gentleman said he had met with MusicACT to discuss their concerns.

“Canberra’s live music community should rest assured we are taking this issue seriously and are working on a number of options to help support the local music scene,” Mr Gentleman said.

“The ACT Government is committed to encouraging a vibrant nightlife while balancing the preferences of local residents. This includes the consideration of entertainment precincts.

“We are looking at measures to support the existing night-time economy, such as extending daytime noise limits later into the evening in our town centres on Friday and Saturday nights.

“We are also pursuing reforms of strata laws to better manage mixed-use precincts to meet the needs of everyone concerned, including those that choose to live or to run a business in a mixed-use development.”

Mr Gentleman said that the government’s reforms would strive to improve dispute resolution procedures, better inform purchasers and renters about noise by making noise management plans more accessible, and make it easier for residents to participate in the governance of their strata living.

“We will soon request the National Capital Design Review Panel considers acoustics, as well as aesthetic aspects when it reviews mixed-use development proposals,” Mr Gentleman said.

“We are also exploring ways to make information available to the public and commercial operators about noise standards and noise zone boundaries in residential and mixed-use areas.”