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Sydneysiders have responded with outrage after they were told to ‘do their part’ and jump on a train to the CBD to boost the nightlife amid a cost-of-living crisis.
The City of Sydney on Monday voted to push on with establishing special entertainment precincts in the CBD that would enjoy loosened liquor laws, extended trading hours and relaxed noise restrictions for live music.
The proposal follows a pilot precinct to test the concept established in late 2022 in the Inner West Council along Enmore Rd from Edgeware Rd to King St, just outside the CBD, which is likely to be made permanent.
Sydneysiders have been urged to jump on a bus and prop up the CBD’s struggling nightlife
Many argued that with the soaring cost-of-living people didn’t want to spend cash partying
Others complained the government had stunted the night culture in the city and now wanted people struggling with inflation and mortgages to save it
On Tuesday, 2GB host Mark Levy said such changes were helping the city ‘claw’ its way back to a decent nightlife after strict lockout laws and the Covid pandemic turned the city into an after-hours ghost town.
He recalled having friends visit from the US recently and took them to a restaurant at The Rocks with a view of the Opera House but when they went for a drink afterwards, about 10pm, they couldn’t find anywhere open.
‘We were the only people on the street looking for a watering hole to visit after dinner,’ he said.
‘The Rocks was the place to meet new people and tourists… Now they’re forced to walk the streets looking for something that’s open.’
‘It’s time for the people of Sydney to hop on a train, a bus or a tram and get back into the CBD to enjoy themselves,’ Levy said.
He said the city needed to ‘strike while the iron is hot’ as it still enjoys the afterglow of the Vivid Festival.
‘It’s given the people of Sydney a taste of what they’ve been missing out on,’ he said.
‘It’s time to start ignoring the people complaining about noise when they’re living next to a pub that’s been there for decades.’
‘The same goes for people who live near a stadium and are pushing back against concerts from being held there.’
‘It’s time to start supporting the pubs, clubs and bars instead of making it impossible for them to run a successful business.’
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The comments prompted a strong reaction on social media with Sydneysiders complaining the government had shut down the nightlife with ‘nanny state’ rules and now wanted people to spend more to bring it back amid soaring inflation.
‘What do they expect people to do when they get there? Spend their money and just put their bills aside?’ one person said.
‘Yeah ok, will give up the groceries for $30 cocktails,’ agreed another.
‘Put aside the fact you can’t make ends meet, hop on a train that is likely to break down if it even arrives the pay through the nose because the cost of running a business is excessive,’ another said.
‘The nightlife in Sydney is really boring, it’s like a retirement village. I live in the CBD and can’t name a good place to have fun, so no idea how a tourist could,’ a third said.
Sydney nightlife went into a state of hibernation for six years after drastic lockout laws were brought in to reduce alcohol-fueled violence.
The laws were lifted in 2020, about the same time a convenient weekend $2.80 public transport cap was removed, but by then 176 venues across the city had already lost so much business they weren’t able to stay open.
Sydney’s night-time culture was once described as ‘vibrant’ but in recent years it has almost evaporated (pictured: the city in 2011)
The new special entertainment precincts are an attempt to revive the city’s once ‘vibrant’ night culture.
NSW Night-time Economy Minister John Graham said the Enmore Rd precinct had been a huge success.
‘Whenever I talk to patrons and businesses that’s what they tell me,’ he said.
‘As a government we are willing to keep making improvements and we’re keen to roll them out across the state.’
Their success will be dependent on getting people to use the precincts at a time when many are cutting back on their spending.
Inflation is above 7 per cent causing most items to be generally more expensive.
This is on top of extra expenses caused by the supply chain disruptions of firstly the Covid pandemic and then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Reserve Bank has raised interest rates 14 times in just over a year, to 4.1 per cent currently, which has also caused mortgages and rents to skyrocket.
Inflation isn’t expected to return to the desired 3-4 per cent band until 2025.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
