A noise level complaint issued to The Bridge Garden Bar and Restaraunt has once again shed light on the pressured relationship between residents and live music venues in Mandurah’s CBD.
The Bridge was issued a notice for breaching environmental noise regulations following a series of live acoustic and club events in the beer garden of the venue.
The fine was believed to have been issued due to a complaint from One Brighton, the high-rise apartment complex at 1 Barracks Lane, constructed in 2009.
The Bridge owner/manager Jayson Blanas said the venue had received a warning about noise in the past, but had been unaware there had apparently been multiple complaints passed to the City since.
“We did receive the first complaint after a live show, which was fair enough,” Mr Blanas said.
“But we’ve only just found out that apparently there had been four or five more complaints against us to the council. No-one has approached us about it, we weren’t told anything until we received the fine.
“We think it’s pretty unfair that we have not been given the opportunity to fix the issue, or even to discuss it.”
Musicians, promoters and local business owners have argued against the decision, saying despite the image of support from the City of Mandurah and government departments, venues in Mandurah are often seen as a second priority to residential developments – even those which have been built decades after the venues.
Regional Development Australia Peel president John Lambrecht said the ruling was an example of how Mandurah’s growing yet fragile live entertainment industry had been given very little support.
“The ones who are really paying for this are the musicians, because they rely on these venues to live, in a lot of cases,” Mr Lambrecht said.
“But obviously all the small business owners, the bookers… anyone who’s involved in the industry, really, has been put in a really, really difficult place.
“The City of Mandurah, for one, has all these plans in place, and all these funds, to support arts and entertainment in the community, yet at the same time it seems these entertainers are being punished for doing their job.”
Bleeding Ear Music founder Dave Feenstra said the limits placed on venues in what the Department of Environmental Regulation deem as “highly sensitive areas”, such as those surrounding the One Brighton apartment complex in the heart of town, were extreme and prevented almost any live activities from being held.
“Currently, if noise levels at apartment level reach 51 decibels (dB), a fine will be issued, no warning, no second chance,” Mr Feenstra said.
“These fines are on an ever increasing scale and go all the way up to $50,000. New restrictions can be enacted as well, such as no live or recorded music permitted in the outdoor area at all.”
Mr Feenstra said even when recorded inside apartments, 51dB was an untenable level, with a low conversation peaking above that at 60dB.
“It is important to understand that 51dB is about twice the volume of sound recorded in a library. How is that helping create a ‘vibrant entertainment precinct’, as the City contend they are?”
Mr Feenstra said it was entirely plausible 51dB of sound could travel with the right wind conditions from the venue to the apartments; an acoustic guitar recorded from a distance of a metre “reads an average of 62bB with a peak at 119dB”.
“These venues are being fined straight up with no warning and not given the opportunity to lower the volume, and so far have received no help from local council to set an acceptable sound level,” he said.
“Instead the authorities go in covertly to secretly record sound level and issue fines and further restrictions.”
Mr Feenstra said the cost of soundproofing venues is often deeply underestimated by those outside the industry.
“The amount of money venues have had to spend on soundproofing because of these complaints would shock people,” he said.
“Some have struggled to keep their doors open, but they’re still there and people are still showing up. We’re just trying to support our community as much as we can.”
Despite any tension on the issue, music industry members said they are more than willing to find a solution to the problem.
“Of course these venues want to work within the parameters, because they want to survive,” Mr Lambrecht said.
“These venues are more than willing to meet in the middle and begin discussing what can be done. But if they don’t know about it, there’s not much they can do.”
The City of Mandurah and the Department of Environmental Regulation have been contacted for comment.
