This year has been rather tumultuous for the relationship between live music venus and neighbouring residencies, just yesterday we saw a Melbourne Music Week Laneway party cancelled due to noise complaints not to mention the unbelievable silence of live music in a venue due to one person’s complaints in New South Wales. Unfortunately, now a performing space in Canberra may be under a very similar threat.

A Summer jazz program held on Friday afternoons between the hours of 5:00pm – 7:30pm in the A Baker Courtyard of New Acton, a multi-purpose building comprising of accommodation, art galleries, markets and eateries now faces the axe after multiple residents living within the complex have complained of noise pollution, as the Canberra Times reports.

Events manager and cultural coordinator David Caffery detailed the issue, “I’m speaking very plainly here, we are having problems presenting jazz in our courtyard during the day. Some residents don’t like it, and they have the legal opportunity to bring the full power of the law against us.”

“People just rile up as soon as you start playing. Imagine if we were trying to play rock or electronic music, we have given up trying to present loud volume music at New Acton, we simply cannot do it which kills me, because I run the ACT music awards, I want to see this kind of thing flourish” he said.
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Arguing against the live music, New Acton East’s body corporate chairman Richard Hay noted that he had received two to three noise complaints a month, commenting on behalf of angered residents, “If you’ve got an apartment here, why should you lose your ability to use your verandahs and open your doors every Sunday afternoon or every Friday night because someone decides to hold a commercial function in the courtyard?”

In addition to this, Hay attests that those hosting the events are in a simple breach of the limits placed upon them by the Environment Protection Agency, however a spokeswoman from the EPA has stated that there has been no noted breach of 55dB daytime or 45dB 10:00pm onward in the evening by performers.

Whilst there’s been no official investigation into the matter yet, Caffery and live music fans alike have a well-warranted cause for concern, noise complaints can be harshly detrimental on not only live music performance platforms but a live music scene too.

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