Following the 2023 bill to foster the revival of live entertainment and riding the wave of new government grants supporting live music, two more Steel city pubs have applied to extend their capacity and hours.
The Cricketers Arms Hotel in the Newcastle area, which is aiming to increase its live music offerings, lodged an application planning to increase outdoor capacity from 82 to 300 patrons, while also keeping the area open until midnight, rather than close it at 10pm.
The pub intends to extend its outdoor live music schedule for an extra half-hour, to 10pm, as well as its outdoor speaker music schedule, from then until midnight.
The application also includes an extension of live music indoors, until closing.
While there is no plan to change its overall operating hours, the building itself or staff numbers, the Cricketers Arms’ proposal offers window glazing and limits on sound levels, and the proposal remains within development standards.
To accommodate its outdoor capacity, the pub will restructure the outdoor dining area, removing tables during peak times.
While the Cricketers Arms is surrounded by both low- and medium-density housing, an assessment of traffic and parking found there will be sufficient parking during peak periods, even taking into account the potential extra patronage.
Meanwhile, just six kilometres away, the General Roberts Hotel won a court appeal for a trading hour extension to 2am, albeit on a trial basis.
Its initial 2022 application for an extension of trading hours was rejected by the City of Newcastle. Council requested that it be withdrawn on the grounds of noise and impact on local amenities.
Rather than submitting a withdrawal, the application was amended to see the pub close at 2am Monday to Saturday. The council again refused the application.
An appeal was lodged with a further amendment of a reduction in the maximum number of patrons, from 508 to 250 after midnight, and to 120 patrons after 1am.
The plan also included closing venue windows, using a sound limiter, and regular patrols of the surrounding area.
As it is located outside the designated late-night precincts, council, along with some residents, maintained that the proposed new hours would create an unacceptable noise impact.
However, Land and Environment Court Commissioner Danielle Dickson determined that the concerns were adequately addressed, finding the proposed changes would not impact the “amenity of surrounding properties or the character of the neighbourhood” and upholding the appeal.
