St Kilda Mayor Orders Live Music Discussion

The mayor of Victoria's City Of Port Phillip, which includes St Kilda, has today ordered a Live Music Roundtable to open the discussion about live music in the region.

Councillor Rachel Powning announced the move today, which follows a similar series of discussions by the City Of Yarra (Melbourne), after growing tensions between live venues and members of the community have threatened to boil over in recent months.

Powning said that the council spends over $800,000 annually on live music but admitted that "we need to balance the needs of both the residents and live music venues."

She added, “Many of the concerns raised by both venues and residents relate to state government planning legislation, which local government is legally obliged to enforce. There is certainly scope for the legislation to be improved. We hope to capture the concerns of our community through the Live Music Roundtable, and then advocate strongly to the Premier."

The ability to host live music and the level of noise intrusion to residents will be key points of the discussion. The council has invited the St Kilda Live Music Community Group, St Kilda Tourism Board, musicians, traders associations and local residents to the discussions.

Earlier this month long-standing St Kilda record store Pure Pop complained that it will be run out of business if the council kept responding to complaints from residents.

The agent of change principle, which determines responsibility for noise management, has also been a key talking point in the Melbourne Live Music Roundtable.

The first discussion will be held Tuesday 7 August.