Red tape strangling fledgling laneway bars

Envious of Melbourne's intimate laneway bars, both Sydney and Perth have brought in reforms aimed at fostering a more vibrant nightlife.

But advocates of the Melbourne model in both cities say legislative red tape and entrenched attitudes are blocking moves to diversify the bar scene.

Between the neon of Sydney's Oxford Street and a dark alleyway in Darlinghurst sits a small bar called Ching-a-ling's.

It's what Sydneysiders call a 'Melbourne-style' bar; a hidey hole of a drinking establishment worth tripping over rubbish bins to get to.

Ching-a-ling's was the third bar to open under the New South Wales Government's licensing reforms.

But one of the owners of Ching-a-ling's, Jack Brown, says the bar may be the first casualty of opposition to the new laws.

"I guess the crux of it is that we've had the ability to use Little Oxford Street access which is our rear access. We've had that removed; we're no longer allowed to use it," he said.

"Unless people are welcoming this type of business concept then it's not really going to happen because ultimately the resident holds all the power down at council."

Controversy about the bar has divided its neighbours.

"It gets quite rowdy here at night, after a few people have had a few drinks or are trying to get into the club, they disturb everybody that's sleeping. And what's more important, partying or sleeping?" said one neighbour, Joshua.

"I mean there's another entrance in, so there's no really big drama about closing the laneway off, really."

"I didn't notice the bar was there until they had a sign up at the bar saying that we've been busted and they closed down, so I knew nothing about it," said another neighbour, Chris.

"This is Oxford Street. You can't tell the difference between the bars out the front and the bars out the back. They all just blend together. People are always walking up and down. It makes no difference." Pub stranglehold

The new laws were introduced a year ago and were aimed at least partly at breaking the stranglehold of the big pubs and clubs on Sydney's drinking scene.

Myffy Rigby is Timeout Magazine's Food and Drink editor.

"There were meant to be sort of more small venues. It was supposed to create more of a creative atmosphere, I guess, and create a more sophisticated drinking culture," she said.

Ms Rigby says for too long, big beer barns and pokie palaces ruled in Sydney, but she says smaller bars such as Ching-a-ling's have faced nothing but an uphill battle.

"It hasn't happened as fast as a lot of people have expected, in terms of all these bars trying to open in kind of residential areas," she said.

"You've got to get, what is it, three different types of approvals just to even apply for your licence. It's pretty complicated."

In fact, only four small, 'Melbourne-style' bars have opened up in Sydney in the past 12 months.

Councillor John McInerney from City of Sydney admits the plan to rejuvenate Sydney's drinking culture has been slow.

"We always knew it was going to take some time. Melbourne had a bit of a front running because many of the parts of the city into which the small bars went were not adjacent to residential developments or buildings," he said.

"Many of our shopping strips butt up against older suburbs and this of course goes back to the fact that Sydney is a lot of older.

"In fact it is the oldest Australian city and so we have much more complex relationships between retail strips and the surrounding residential areas."Perth issues

The small bar scene is also facing problems in Perth.

It's been two years since the Western Australian Government brought in liquor reforms designed to remove the city's 'Dullsville' tag.

Twenty-three licenses have been granted, but many more have been stalled by local government red tape.

The head of WA's Small Bar Association, lawyer Dan Mossendon, says as of this month, it is set to get even worse.

He says it is now a requirement to have a council-approval certificate when lodging an application for a small bar.

"It will delay and defer the making of a number of these applications and that will then potentially jeopardise the prospects of those applications being able to be fulfilled," he said.

Jonathon Larkin is from Raise the Bar, a group which campaigns for changes to the liquor industry.

Mr Larkin hopes councils both in Sydney and Perth will persist with plans to diversify the drinking culture.

"Small bars have a huge role to play in changing that culture, so that you can if you want go and have a quiet drink without having TVs blare at you and pokies whirring; that kind of culture," he said.

... read original article
Fri 3rd July 2009 - 08:49am