Below is a collection of stories about noise complaints made about music venues, which are generally seen to be unreasonable by the community affected.
In many cases a complaint made by a single neighbour can severely impact the venue and the musicians who play there, while other neighbours say they barely hear any noise and it doesn’t worry them.
In some cases, the person complaining may not even be sure of where the noise is coming from, quite a few complaints have been about times the venue nearby was closed. Occasionally the complainant’s motivation is to close the venue down in an effort to increase their property value, and has nothing to do with the noise they hear.
Other times, the complainant could have researched the area more carefully before moving into it.
As an example of the craziness that can happen, an ex-neighbour of the now closed Empress Hotel (North Fitzroy), who for a fairly long period complained often about noise at the venue, also tried to get the bus company across the road to start their bus service at 7:30am instead of 7am, to make mornings quieter!
Some stories:
Sour notes leave St Kilda venue rocking and rolling – Pure Pop Records has been plagued by complaints from neighbours, The Age July 13 2012
Silence for St Kilda – Big fines to venues, and afternoon acoustic act stopped, The Age 16/3/2012
Breaking News: No More Music At Melbourne’s Birmy – mess&noise 1/11/2010
Birmy Rocked By Noise Complaints – gigs at Fitzroy’s Birmingham Hotel are threatened by noise complaints, mess&noise 17/2/2010
Cherry Bar: ‘We’re Expecting to Have Trouble With Our Neighbours’ – mess&noise July 24 2014
Melbourne’s Cherry Bar raises $50,000 for noise-proofing renovation – The Age July 29 2014
Venue News: Pure Pop, Tago Mago, Shadow Electric, Black Bear Lodge – mess&noise July 29 2014
Pure Pop Records Pulls the Plug – St Kilda News Aug 6 2014
Bendigo Hotel In Crisis Talks Over Noise Complaints – mess&noise Nov 25 2014
Read This Noise Complaint Sent To Melbourne’s Cherry Bar – MusicFeeds Oct 18 2014
