– Our response to the City of Sydney Council’s “Know your village 2030” forum

Residents want a brighter future for Kings Cross & Potts Point

At the recent ‘Know your Village 2030’ forum held in Kings Cross, the Lord Mayor of Sydney finally responded to community concerns over the impact of expanding licenced premises in the Kings Cross/Potts Point area. Clover Moore was pressured by local residents from the 2011 postcode into committing to a further workshop to address the conflict between residents and the proliferation of licensed premises, which have increased at an alarming rate.

At the packed meeting, residents rejected Moore and her PR team’s spin about their plans for our neighbourhood ‘village’. Instead they demanded action from the City of Sydney to implement consistent application of the existing Development Control Plan and provide adequate resources to ensure venue compliance.

The 2011 Residents’ Association supports local residents and reminds the City of Sydney that we live in a mixed residential area and not just an entertainment precinct. Local residents greatly value and support their local shops, cafes, small bars and restaurants.  However some venues exploit council regulations or get away with breaching existing rules about noise, patron numbers and opening hours.

While the area has always been a vibrant and diverse community of residents and small businesses, under the current Lord Mayor and over the last decade, a steady increase in alcohol-related business has been accompanied by a slackening of Council attention to breaches of DA and License regulations. It is a shame that City of Sydney Council’s sympathies are so clearly invested in supporting these new businesses and not with the local community who are impacted by increasing levels of disruption, noise and anti-social behaviour on our streets.

These businesses need to comply with existing regulations, and the Lord Mayor and her Council should act on their promise to treat this area as a real community ‘village’ and not as an entertainment precinct. Profits derived from alcohol are increasingly lucrative but the rights of residents must not be ignored in this, the most densely populated area of Sydney.