Marrickville pledges live music assistance
Image: Marrickville Greens Councillor Melissa Brooks
Marrickville Council will be heavily involved in the transformation of Sydney’s Parramatta Rd into a live music hub after a motion on the matter was passed last week.
Council unianimously agreed to assist in the development of a live music precinct along the road from the University of Sydney to Taverners Hill. Leichhardt Mayor Darcy Byrne developed the plan aimed at making the stretch of road attractive to operators of live music venues, comedy clubs, small bars and theatres.
“I think the most important thing we can do is be a help rather than a hindrance to musicians and others who are driving the live music culture in Marrickville,” said Marrickville Councillor Melissa Brooks. “We currently give opportunities and grants to visual artists that we maybe need to consider more for musicians as well.
“We’ll need to work with neighbouring councils as well as with residents, venues and artists on how we can get the best outcome. I’m hoping we can move our relationship with the DIY venues in Marrickville’s industrial precinct from being somewhat adversarial to being supportive.”
The motion will include increased noise allowances and extended trading hours for venues. Ms Brooks said the live music development comes at a time when the industry needed encouragement.
“Live music of all kinds is a really important form of cultural expression or experience for a lot of people. It also creates lots of opportunities to get people together and have a good time, and we should support that,” she said.
Ms Brooks lamented Sydney’s increased use of poker machines as a problem in reinvigorating live music.
“I think the massive rollout of poker machines really crushed a lot of live music in pubs and that is a real shame. The pub scene is where a lot of great musicians get started and those opportunities are really important,” she said.
“The music scene around here is way more diverse than pub rock, and I think we need to keep a broad mind about all kinds of music being part of any live music strategy.”
Peter Hayman, Content Manager at independent record label Blue Pie, agreed live music is flailing locally and requires council assistance.
“In recent years we have seen the systematic closing down of live music venues as local councils give in to the noise complaints of nearby residents, instead of reaching fair compromises. We definitely need a better system for handling these sorts of matters to give local culture and arts a fighting chance, before it is entirely replaced with pokies,” he said.
