The NSW Government has this week tabled a 25 point action plan from the Sydney Night-Time Economy Roundtables held earlier this year that identifies a roadmap to boost Sydney’s status as a global city with a safe and dynamic nightlife that also actively supports art and culture.
The action plan was developed through a collaborative process from three roundtable events held between March and May. The Roundtables comprised representatives from health, police, residents groups, St Vincent’s Hospital, live music, the hospitality sector, the liquor industry, transport, small business, planning, and local and state governments.
Deputy Premier Troy Grant who released the report said
“These ideas include more late-night public transport, clearer defined rights for live music venues in our planning system and a greater role for Arts and Cultural organisations to contribute to our night-time economy.“All these issues will now be taken up and considered by the respective portfolio Ministers.”
Importantly, the roundtable’s collaborative report including its 25 proposed actions has been provided to the Callinan Review considering the impact of the 1.30am lock out and 3am cessation of liquor sales laws.
- Develop a Contemporary Music Strategy to provide guidance for live music venues / industry
- Collaborative marketing to promote gigs and events through an online portal/app
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Encourage an annual late night event when all state cultural institutions are open
- Change the language used in communicating with residents and visitors to communicate that ‘Sydney is open for business
- Develop a night-time economy master plan for Sydney
- Appoint a lead / champion from within government to be a single point of contact on the strategy
- Encourage and facilitate the use of vacant commercial spaces and public places for establishing pop-up performance and art offerings
- Reforms to the planning regulations to provide greater incentives for small, creative start-up businesses and reduce red tape through changes to Exempt and Complying Development and the Building Code of Australia (BCA)
- Consider allowing busking on trains/light rail
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Arts and culture be integrated into the design and development of urban regeneration projects by working with Transport for NSW to re-imagine infrastructure
Background on the Sydney Night-Time Economy Roundtables structure and process is also hosted on the NSW Liquor and Gaming website.
