Compliance failure Carole Ferrier 8th November 2011

Suzie Matthews, Manager City of Sydney Late Night Economy, was asked a simple question by me in this column: how many Compliance Officers are on duty in Kings Cross on Friday and Saturday nights to ensure licensees comply with their DA conditions?

She has still not answered this question, instead offering the same “spin” we have been getting for 4 years – ‘we are employing officers’. It should be simple to check the rosters of these ‘phantom officers’ and give readers the answer. Without compliance, mayhem results – as residents see every weekend in Kings Cross. And it begs the question: why would any tourist ever come to Clover Moore’s major Entertainment Precinct when it houses a potentially violent alcohol-fuelled mob of 25,000 drunks?

Who would dare walk back or out of their hotel room in the Cross or the city after midnight on the weekend to be amongst brawling drunks? Perhaps this is yet another reason why Sydney can’t get tourist numbers up: Council has failed its residents in the inner city and is failing the wider tourist industry as well.

The culling permit was sought by Potts Point buildings’ owner corporations earlier this year, when cockatoos were accused of damaging property. The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and the City of Sydney Council worked with the complainants for several months, but the order to shoot and kill the cockatoos was approved in July.  After protests and some attempts to find other deterrents – such as using chilli oil, flashing lights or shock tape on windowsills and other building protrusions -  approval was finally given to capture and gas  selected cockatoos.

Sulphur crested cockatoos are a highly recognisable and much loved native parrot. They are not endangered, but they are a protected species. They can live to 75 years of age and are monogamous.  Their curved beaks are particularly strong, and cockatoos like to test and toughen these beaks on wooden twigs or branches – and yes, sometimes even windowsills.

A small number of flocks nest in the valleys between the Botanical Gardens and Paddington, and are well known to local residents.  Visitors and locals alike are delighted to watch and interact with these distinctive birds.  Unfortunately, it is this interaction that can cause some problems.  Some residents encourage cockatoos to visit by regularly feeding them on their balconies and window boxes – and then when they cause damage, neighbours in the same building complain that they are pests.

There is ongoing debate about the effectiveness of culling as an effective deterrent to a flock’s behaviour. Rather than blaming the cockatoos, surely it would be more effective to educate residents and visitors about the implications of feeding and interacting with local wildlife?

We propose that an education campaign about how to co-exist with wildlife and environment in inner city Sydney would be a more effective strategy for managing nuisance cockatoo behaviour, than killing the birds.

We also call on NSW State Government and the City of Sydney Council to provide details about the number of cockatoos that have been culled so far.

See also:
Potts Point cockatoos put on hit list 6 October 2011 City News
Beak hour traffic destroying heritage buildings 2 September 2011 Sydney Morning Herald

Waiting with Interest, a letter from Lucas Crabtree, President 2011RA, 19th October

2011 Resident’s Association calls on the City of Sydney to work with the local police in order to ensure licensed premises in the Kings Cross area are meeting their licensing conditions.

Cross Mayhem Carole Ferrier 26th October

Who’ll fix The Cross? Letter from P.MgGrath, 2nd November

It’s easy to snipe at Kings Cross residents when you live a safe distance away from ground zero (Ian Black, Letters, Oct 26).
I don’t have an axe to grind, I just want to see responsible Local Government. City of Sydney, under Clover Moore, has created a monster in Kings Cross by approving licensed venues that now overrun this once-quaint village. Moore’s mission to transform Sydney into a ‘City of Villages’ has seen Kings Cross become her flagship ‘Village of the Damned’ thanks to the mix of drugs and alcohol, open round-the-clock for all. And what a marvellous postcard image it makes for Sydney: by day overrun by brawling junkies and street drinkers in this so-called ‘Alcohol-Free Zone’, while come nightfall these sad souls are replaced by hordes of screaming drunk youths who on weekends become a flood until 5 or 6 am, fighting, brawling, spewing, urinating (and worse) on our front steps, in our back lanes, underneath our bedroom and living-room windows. And what does City of Sydney do to try to reverse this tide? Provide portable footpath urinals to catch the overflow! Class act Clover!
I’m surprised Ian Black didn’t ask the hoary old question, ‘Well, why did you move there in the first place?’ Easy: when I came to the Cross over 12 years ago it was relatively quiet, quirky - and yes, village-like! – with just 3 watering holes on Darlinghurst Rd (the B&B near the fountain, Sports Bar near the station, and Fishbowl opposite the Coke sign). In between were typical ‘village’  businesses – banks, florist, ice-cream parlour, fast-photo shop, etc – plus a few seedy sex clubs whose customers disappeared quietly into the night. Since then, thanks to Cover Moore’s and Suzie Matthew’s attempts to inject a ‘vibrant nightlife’ into the Cross by approving a never-ending stream of DAs for licensed premises, the village shops have been eaten up and turned into all-night bars, clubs and mega-pubs, at last count numbering more than 130 licensed premises in the Cross, and emptying onto the streets the equivalent of Sydney Football stadium on weekends, a statistic that Council’s own research threw up (an appropriate term I think).
I don’t care what people do inside the pubs and clubs – that’s their business. But when they bring their particular brand of street trash onto our residential streets, back lanes and front steps at 3 and 4am – or any time – then this ‘Free Alcohol Zone’ becomes a No-Go Zone for residents. That’s all happened under the watch of Moore and Matthews. And no matter how much they attempt to deflect real public concern with headline-grabbing announcements of more mobile urinals(!) and meagre late-night transport options, the real issue remains the saturation of licensed venues and drinking hours. Even Council’s own research this year has found “there is a strong association between clusters of licensed venues and increased violence and other undesirable impacts” (Open Sydney, pg 34) and “There is much research linking later closing times with higher levels of alcohol-related violence, alcohol-related hospital admissions, drink-driving and other problems. Earlier closing times are linked to reductions in these problems, as noted in Newcastle, NSW where reducing trading hours from 5am to 3am led to a 37 per cent reduction in assaults” (pg 41).

It’s not rocket science. So who’s going to have the guts to tackle the problem?

We also call on Clover Moore to further support the local community and follow through on promises to employ Compliance Officers during the late night and early morning trading period. It is especially at these early hours of the morning that residents have the right to sleep.

Lucas Crabtree,
President 2011
Residents Association

Lucas Crabtree has been elected president of the 2011 Residents Association for 2011 – 2012.

Mr Crabtree, who has a background in architecture and works as a senior project manager at Taronga Conservation Society Australia, has lived in Elizabeth Bay and Kings Cross for a decade.  During this time he has seen the ongoing problems facing residents living in the most densely populated area in Sydney.

“It is important that the community and local residents have a voice and work together to protect and improve their neighbourhood. The 2011 Residents Association is a group that has had much success in making sure that residents’ needs are not overlooked,” said Mr Crabtree.

“I am keen to address the ongoing challenges for residents living near the biggest entertainment precinct in Australia.

“The club and pub scene impacts on residents’ lives and this is especially evident at night time. Traffic noise and congestion is a concern to many, as is the noise generated by revellers as they make their way home.

“The City of Sydney needs to improve compliance monitoring of the pubs and clubs through utilisation of compliance officers, as the police, who do a great job against all odds, simply can’t deal with the situation alone.

“In addition to the many problems facing our community due to the impact of the entertainment precinct, we are determined to ensure that the 2011 neighbourhood is not overdeveloped inappropriately for the sake of a quick developer profit.

“The proposed Elizabeth Bay Marina, with its plans for a 40 berth marina, is just such a development, and has the potential to impact on the amenity of local residents.

“We will work closely with residents living in the entire 2011 postcode stretching from Woolloomooloo through Kings Cross, Elizabeth Bay and Potts Point to Rushcutters Bay in order to make this the best area in metropolitan Sydney in which to live.”

We invite all other organisations making submissions to make their submissions public.

Key elements of the policy are that premises with which there have been associated 8 or more assaults in the previous 12 months will be subject to additional obligations. There are to be three bands – level 1 (19 or more assaults) have the most stringent obligations similar to those imposed on the “list of 48 premises” currently, level 2 (12-18 assaults) will have lesser obligations, and level 3 (8-11 assaults) have fewer obligations – they will be helped by OLGR to “strengthen alcohol and security management”.

For the sake only of completeness (and not to advertise the policy), the complete media release is over the fold.

Restrictions continue to curb alcohol violence
8 July 2009

Premier Nathan Rees today released the NSW Government’s safety regime to curb alcohol related violence in NSW pubs and clubs.

The NSW Government announced the final set of rules that will govern restrictions placed on declared venues.

“The community is sick and tired of violence and these new arrangements will continue to target venues that have rising alcohol-related assault rates,” said Mr Rees.

“We will work with venues to reduce incidents by imposing strict rules on their operations but will also reward them for their success.

“Strict requirements will continue to be placed on venues based on the number of assaults on premises.

“Special conditions will be imposed on licenses to reduce intoxication and violence, while lower risk premises will be given extra help to improve compliance and safety standards.

“Three new categories based on assaults will replace the current system and reclassification of venues will be possible twice a year based on a review of assault data.

“The highest risk venues with 19 or more assaults a year will be subject to similar special conditions already in force at 48 of the State’s most violent pubs and clubs.

“The scheme will also allow venues with reduced incidents of violence to be removed from the list or have the number of special conditions reduced.

“Any decision to remove a venue from the list will not be taken lightly.

“It will primarily be based on the level of assaults and the provision of an appropriate venue safety management plan.

“The data is published by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and a revised list will be compiled on 1 December and 1 June each year using 12 months of rolling data.

“Venues added to the list will be subject to the special conditions for a minimum of 6 months,” said Mr Rees.

The three bands and their restrictions are:

Level 1 (19 or more assaults)

• 10 minute time out or the provision of free water and food for 10 minutes every hour after midnight
• Cease service 30 minutes prior to closure
• No glass after 12am
• 2am lockout
• No shots, no doubles and no RTDs over 5% and four alcoholic drinks per customer per order
• Extra security measures

Level 2 (12 to 18 assaults)

• 10 minute time out or the provision of free water and food for 10 minutes every hour after midnight
• Cease service 30 minutes prior to closure
• No glass after 12am

Level 3 (8 to 11 assaults)

Lower risk premises will be given help by the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) to strengthen alcohol and security management

Gaming Minister Kevin Greene said that wide spread consultation has occurred following the introduction of the Government’s initial measures to ensure the system was fair and transparent.

“Before any conditions are imposed, licensees will have the opportunity to provide their venue safety plan and show cause as to why they should not be added to the list of premises subject to special conditions,” said Mr Greene.

“The names of the venues subject to the new legal requirements will be published online to allow patrons to make informed choices when deciding where to go out.

“We will also impose a new condition on all Level 1 and Level 2 licensed venues requiring all assaults to be recorded during operating hours in a specific register kept on the premises.

“OLGR has also carried out a review of 24-hour venues to ensure adequate liquor licence conditions are in place.

“The review found that only 14 licensed venues in NSW actually trade 24 hours and they are already subject to stringent conditions,” said Mr Greene.