JANUARY 2020
mov’in bed
WEST BEACH IS once again BEING RING-FENCED – THIS TIME FOR OVER TWO MONTHS FOR AN OUTDOOR CINEMA
This “event” would eat up portions of our public beaches, rendering those INACCESSIBLE 24/7 FOR OVER TWO MONTHS for the screening of movies for a few hours in the night.
Write to your Councillors to express your views.
CoPP Councillors
DECEMBER 2019
LISTEN OUT REVIEW
In response to residents’ complaints, Council reviewed the 2019 Listen Out event and issued the following letter to residents
Council has come up with a set of recommendations – not actions or decisions. Their response does not guarantee that the detrimental impacts of listen out melbourne and similar events held in our neighbourhood will never occur again
COUNCIL’S RESPONSE DOES NOT ADDRESS THE MITIGATION OF ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR ON OUR STREETS
The enforcement of maximum sound levels at outdoor events and local venues may have addressed the loudness of the music that disturbed some locals. This, however, has had little or no impact on the behaviour of festival-goers & local venue patrons on our streets after festivals and local venues have shut for the night – yelling, pissing, vomiting, littering, aggression and vandalism.
The question begs to be asked: have the radical, knee-jerk and across the board measures such as the limitation of music sound levels and the prohibition of alcohol consumption on our streets & public spaces provided the results locals wanted?
Further, does the limitation of alcohol licences to 11pm, 1am, 3am…, add to the problem with hordes of young people, mainly from the UK and Ireland, heading from one venue closing to another still serving until they finally head back to their backpacker or airbnb accommodations locally?
Can owners & operators of St Kilda backpacker accommodations and airbnb hosts help mitigate noise disturbance from our streets & anti-social behaviour in general, as these types of accommodations are deeply embedded in our neighbourhoods and are often the first point of contact for visitors to our community?
NOVEMBER 2019
OUR EXPERIENCE WITH LISTEN OUT
Some residents were upset by the two-day event in October 2018, and for 2019 it had been reduced to one day. However, whereas it catered for 18,000 patrons last year, it was increased to 30,000 this year! For a one-day event on our Grand Final Day, Catani Gardens and much of West Beach were fenced off for a fortnight, and Pier Road was closed as were some footpaths & bike paths – this was a major local disruption.
Organisers claim that TWO notices were letter-boxed. The first, however, was not distributed to many affected residents. The second, which included some detail, went to even fewer residents – and some of the detail was unclear, especially when it came to the closure of West St Kilda streets. Unsurprisingly, gridlock resulted. Upset people argued loudly on our streets and drivers sat on horns – at night!
The heavy deep bass sound, pulsating for ten hours, was hard to take for many residents. The failure to measure noise where it was at its worst was a glaring deficiency.
Some patrons misbehaved in fairly gross ways in West St Kilda streets and even in residents’ gardens. Mountains of rubbish and broken glass bottles accumulated in the streets.
During and in the hours after the event, no action seemed to have been taken to address any of these issues.
WSKRA has provided a detailed feedback to the events co-ordination staff at Town Hall. We are eager to hear what measures & actions they will propose.
OCTOBER 2019
UPDATE ON EVENTS HELD IN OUR AREA
The City of Port Phillip [CoPP] gives permits to a range of organisations to organise various types of performances, parades, fun runs and other public gatherings. You will have noticed that Catani Gardens, for example, is often used for what CoPP likes to call “events”.
Because some residents have been disturbed by some of these events, WSKRA has been raising concerns with CoPP. In the 2018-9 “events season” – from October to March – WSKRA raised issues in connection with:
- Notice given to residents beforehand
- Noise
- Road & footpath closures
- The behaviour of event marshals
- The fencing off of Catani gardens for lengthy periods.
Concerned residents will be pleased to hear that some changes are afoot.
- Music events will be targeted to an older demographic
- The emphasis will be on live performance as distinct from electronic music
- No event is to run later than 10.00 pm
- CoPP is seeking gradually to reduce the number of road closures
- Noise management guidelines have been updated
- Noise is now to be measured by the EPA and event managers will beforehand be told that that will be the case
- Action is to be taken to try to ensure prior notification to residents actually does occur
- A new contract has been let to manage ASSIST calls to CoPP when events are on
WSKRA emphasised the need for enhanced traffic management & active police involvement during events. CoPP offered to share the forthcoming events programme with WSKRA and suggested that, after experiencing the first few events, there be further discussion in early December 2019.
WRITE TO COUNCIL TO EXPRESS YOUR VIEWS
If you’re disturbed by Listen Out or any other event, e.g. Grand Prix, or otherwise concerned at arrangements made for an event, you might like to let us have details here at WSKRA and/or you may wish to take the matter up yourself with CoPP. Either way, it’s best if you put your concerns in writing.
Write to CoPP Chief Executive Officer:
Mr Chris Carroll
Chief Executive Officer
City of Port Phillip
99A Carlisle Street
St Kilda VIC 3182
CEO@portphillip.vic.gov.au
Fill out an online form on the CoPP website