Page 258 - Week 01 - Thursday, 12 February 2015
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at this area, because without requirements developers are unlikely to implement such measures and we will see more conflicts. Certainly, in seeking to soundproof both the venues and the residences in the areas there is scope to ameliorate that conflict.
Again, there are limitations to the approach of requiring soundproofing. In some places, of course, it is already going to be too late as the buildings are there. But there are other issues. Residents should have access to natural ventilation rather than needing to rely on air conditioning. On a warm summer evening we want people to be able to throw open the windows or the sliding doors. This, of course, opens them up to the noise that might be coming from the streets below. These are issues that need to be considered in the area of soundproofing.
As I have touched on already, I think there is scope to look at the issue of night-life precincts and whether there are particular areas that we should be designating and perhaps considering whether they should be open to residential development or not, and how those things might be done. We can imagine the sorts of areas where that might apply—areas such as Braddon, Dickson, Manuka, Kingston and the town centres. There are even issues around Exhibition Park which need to be considered.
These are the sorts of issues that need to be brought to the table. I think there is a real, positive energy developing in Canberra. There has always been a live music scene in Canberra. One of the things I have been excited by in Canberra is that I feel we have had a bit of a change of pace in the last five years or so. Before then young people who would have previously come through the more artistic scene upped and left Canberra because they felt there was not enough going on here, but we are seeing some of those younger people staying in the city and continuing to seek to innovate here, and helping to develop a much more vibrant city than perhaps historically has been the case.
Canberra has struggled over the years with being described as a bit of a dead city with no night-life. I think we are making progress, and as an Assembly we need to start thinking about how we can protect that and seek to avoid conflict between our constituents. So I commend my motion to the Assembly.
MR COE (Ginninderra) (11.51): I thank Mr Rattenbury for bringing this motion for discussion today. The Canberra Liberals will be supporting the motion. We believe the live music industry and the events scene are an important part of our vibrant city and should be supported. We also believe residents should not be unduly disturbed by noises coming from these events.
Mr Rattenbury’s motion mentioned the 2009 inquiry into live community events. As he mentioned, I, like you, Madam Deputy Speaker, participated in that committee inquiry and found it to be a particularly interesting and informative process. I am pleased to reiterate my support for the recommendations we made at that time. The committee recommended that the government implement the order of occupancy principle. The order of occupancy principle is vital to ensuring that established venues are not unfairly impacted by new occupants. If residential development is placed very close to established venues, new residents may make noise complaints and threaten the viability of evening and even daytime entertainment.
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