Passed in the last week of Parliament in November 2006,
these reforms are “long overdue, and extremely good news for the live music industry”
says Planning Minister Frank Sartor. Along with outgoing Arts Minister Bob
Debus, Sartor personally intervened to ensure the new regulations were able to
be introduced. Not just for music, the new regulations will mean a simpler
process for theatre and cinemas, circuses and temporary structures, country
shows, churches, surf clubs and public halls.
Previously in NSW, to play even an acoustic harmonica in a
pub required the licensee to undergo a long and expensive process, including
two development applications, whilst other forms of entertainment such as
broadcast sport and poker machines in the same venues were completely exempt
from any entertainment assessment and compliance. The result has seen NSW pubs
and clubs now dominated by broadcast sport and gambling at the expense of local
musicians. Most licensees who wanted to include live music in some capacity
gave up, due to expense and red tape under the current Place of Public
Entertainment Authority (POPE) process.
Recognised in the new laws as a regulation of State significance,
and standardised across NSW as a State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP),
the new regulations will mean that small-scale entertainment, such as playing a
Spanish guitar in a restaurant or hotel, will now involve a simple inspection
by Council with a checklist. It will not have to undergo the same level of
compliance as having ACDC in the Entertainment Centre, as was previously the
case. The new system will be assessed using three categories. These include
exempt activities, complying development activities – such as large
televisions, and low-hazard, low-impact live performance in cafes, restaurants
and hotels, and a solitary development application for intensive use dedicated
entertainment venues.
“The role of music in a society is an important measure of
the health of a community, and it’s obvious to all that live music
opportunities in our city are clearly lacking” says Craig Scott, Chair of the
Jazz Faculty at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. “NSW has been far behind
all the other states in this area. These new regulations will be of immense
importance to the future of the musicians and culture of this state, and will benefit
all types of music – from jazz to rock to classical and ethnic music.”
Currently in the final stages of preparation by the Planning
Department, the new regulations are due to be gazetted and, after a period of a
couple of months for local councils to get to know the new rules, will be in
force across all councils in NSW by the middle of the year.
Source: South Sydney Herald March 2007