Melbourne venue Cherry Bar, which sits on on AC/DC lane, has been long been battling with threats posed by nearby residential developments and the fight seems to have endured, with the venue now claiming it has received its first noise complaint.
As reported by Tone Deaf, the complaint was shared by the venue on their Facebook page yesterday. “I am a resident living at the newly established apartment beside the Cherry Bar. The noise made by your bar is affecting my sleep and work, especially since it lasts beyond mid night,” wrote the unnamed resident of the nearby 12-storey development.
“May i suggest u guys to reduce the noise made by at least a half? There are many working adults and students living in this apartment, so the noise produced by your bar made it very difficult for us to rest at home after a long day of work.”
“I have read about the noise restrictions in the CBD,” continues the complaint, “and will consider reporting to the City of Melbourne or the Victoria Police if this matter is not solved within the next week.”
Victoria’s new Agent of Change planning reforms are currently being implemented, which aim to better protect venues from noise complaints by new residential developments. Under the reforms, new developments, particularly those within 50 metres of a live music venue, will be responsible for footing the costs of sound-proofing themselves. The laws however do not apply to existing buildings.
The implementation of the reforms came a little too late for Cherry Bar though. The venue, with the help of devoted live music fans, recently ran a successful crowdfunding campaign to raise the necessary funds for costly soundproofing renovations so as to avoid noise complaints such as these.
“Cherry has been successfully operating for 14 years as a late night live music venue. We have never had a noise complaint,” wrote the venue in response to this letter. “The good news for you is that we are pro-actively investing in $100 000 worth of soundproofing presently. We are approximately 3 weeks into the 4 week process.”
UPDATE 20/10/14: Cherry Bar have now shared a letter showing the right way to react when moving next to a noisy venue.
