New state laws have paved the way for Newcastle council to designate a special zone in the inner-city with later trading hours and "favourable noise controls" to encourage live music, but the location of such an entertainment precinct remains unknown.
Parliament passed the government's "vibrancy reforms" legislation late last month, enabling councils to declare special entertainment precincts to expand the night economy.
The government said in May that Newcastle was one of a handful of cities where it was prioritising the precincts to invigorate late-night trade and boost the music industry.
The new laws also empower councils to automatically adjust trading hours on development consents to support late-night venues inside designated entertainment precincts and require developers to mitigate sound coming into new apartment buildings.
They also hand sole responsibility for noise management and complaints to Liquor and Gaming NSW under the Liquor Act, effectively scrapping noise-related conditions of development consent and offensive noise pollution laws for licensed venues in the precincts.
The reforms will increase from three to five the number of disturbance complaints about a licensed venue needed for a formal complaint to be considered.
The length of time a complainant has been living in a household, known as order of occupancy, will become a central consideration in noise complaints.
The location of a special entertainment precinct in Newcastle could be contentious given the tension between some apartment owners and the city's pubs, clubs and bars.
Victoria Theatre spokesman Greg Khoury said a Newcastle entertainment precinct could stretch from Perkins Street to the Civic Theatre and possibly up Darby Street into Cooks Hill.
"We're extremely supportive of it. We believe the entertainment precinct approach is the most valuable for the 24-hour economy and certainly for public performance venues, without doubt," he said.
"What I understand from others is that the logical area appears to be from the Civic Theatre coming down to the Victoria [Theatre] is what I understand was being mooted in council.
"I imagine it would encompass Darby Street as well."
Mr Khoury, the executive director of Sydney-based operator Century Venues, said his company had benefited from the state's first special entertainment precinct around its Enmore Theatre.
"It gives you certain concessions in terms of trading, but most importantly the greatest bugbear is sound management, and at the moment in NSW for sound management and complaints that go with sound there are seven different agencies which have jurisdictions across it."
'Psychological benefit'
Mr Khoury said designating an entertainment precinct would have a "psychological benefit".
"When you actually have an area that's designated physically as an entertainment precinct, that sends a certain message and people have an understanding of what that means.
"It's been very successful in Brisbane in Fortitude Valley, which was like our Kings Cross so people knew it as an entertainment precinct.
"However, the designation of it being an entertainment precinct has sent that message to everyone that, if you're going to buy in that area, if you want to live in that area, that's what you're buying into."
In addition to the special entertainment precinct scheme, licensed venues throughout NSW can now apply to open two hours later on the nights they have live music.
Mr Khoury said the later-trading provisions would not necessarily lead to venues staying open longer.
"In a venue like the Enmore, you have a performance, it finishes and people don't really stay around," he said.
"They go on to other places if they want to continue to socialise.
"The extension of trading hours is a great thing to have, but it's not easy to take advantage of.
"I think where it works well is in a hybrid venue where you've got a bar that will have performance in it and they're allowed to continue."
He said it was unclear how the order of occupancy would work in relation to noise complaints.
Asked if people who had bought apartments near the long-closed Victoria should have expected the theatre to reopen, Mr Khoury said: "I think absolutely they should understand that the theatre has a right to be reopened as a theatre and should be.
"I think the issue of sound emissions is another story.
"We need to make sure as much as possible that sound is managed within the building and that the issues related to large numbers of people attending a venue are also managed."
The state's 24-Hour economy commissioner, Michael Rodrigues, said a Newcastle entertainment precinct was "a matter for Newcastle council to initiate".
"A number of councils, including Newcastle, have expressed a desire to enhance their night-time economy," he said.
"The recently announced vibrancy reforms have been designed to enable councils to do so, primarily through the special entertainment precinct mechanism."
'Up to the council'
Mr Rodrigues said it was up to Newcastle council to designate a "suitable area".
"Council would then work in consultation with local businesses, the community and the state government to deliver," he said.
"It could come into operation once relevant government agencies, including the Department of Planning, have assessed the suitability of the precinct."
Newcastle council said it was "too early" to determine a special entertainment precinct for the city.
"City of Newcastle is committed to the ongoing implementation of our Newcastle After Dark: Night Time Economy strategy to deliver a creative, safe and vibrant night-time economy for Newcastle," a spokesperson said.
"The NSW government is leading engagement with various local government areas to inform the development of draft guidelines for the implementation of special entertainment precincts."
The council's 2018 After Dark strategy identifies six nightlife precincts from the East End to Hamilton but does not refer to the special entertainment precinct scheme.
Among other changes under the vibrancy reforms, the government will "streamline" community consultation requirements for liquor licence applications from mid-2024, permanently empower councils to approve temporary street closures for outdoor dining and performances, and relax rules on businesses using their private land and car parking spaces for outdoor dining.
