After years of negotiation, delays, and broken promises, Melbourne’s live music venues appear to have won the fight for better protection from noise complaints from new residential developments.
The Age reports that Planning Minister Matthew Guy intends to finally sign off this week on a “suite of changes … to planning regulation that will enshrine agent-of-change rules as well as create a half-million-dollar fund to help heritage venues become soundproof.”
The changes will enshrine the Agent of Change principle in planning law and, according to Minister Guy, ensure that “beloved pubs and clubs that are home to live music in Victoria will not be forced to close due to noise complaints from those in new apartment buildings or new houses next door.” The government will also set up a $500,000 assistance fund for venues in heritage buildings to assist with expensive sound proofing in venues that are not helped by the new agent-of-change laws. Under the revised rules, new developments within 50 metres of a live music venue will be responsible for noise mitigation and venues under 500 square metres will not have to meet the same code compliance rules as larger venues. “This is by far and away the strongest planning regulatory reform in Australia that protects existing live music venues,” Guy says.
Music Victoria chief executive Patrick Donovan has welcomed the changes as “a big win for the Victorian live music industry” that has come “just in the nick of time for many venues.” The laws had been expected to be implemented by April, and Minister Guy was recently slammed by Victoria’s live music sector advocacy group – aptly called SLAM – for failing to act.
“We are getting calls every few days from venues such as the Reverence, Tago Mago and the Gasometer wondering when the Agent of Change will be delivered by the Government,” Music Victoria revealed in a Facebook post last week. “While unfortunately new reform packages won’t [help] save venues like Cherry which has new residents moving in a few weeks, it will save our incredible 500+ venues from future developments.” Cherry recently crowdsourced $50,000 from live music fans to help pay for soundproofing renovations.
