The Night Cat Wins Case Against Developer, Fights For Change Against Agent Of Change Legislation
"This fight has shown that venues like The Night Cat are still vulnerable."
Brass Party at The Night Cat (Credit: Supplied)
Beloved Melbourne institution The Night Cat needed a win, and it’s had one after the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) cancelled temporary orders threatening its operations on Tuesday (26 August).
In April, The Night Cat launched a crowdfunding campaign to help safeguard its future.
Owner Justin Stanford established the GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for the venue to continue operating, following increasing compliance demands from the City of Yarra in relation to developments in the area.
“The venue is now under immediate threat of closure unless costly soundproofing upgrades are implemented,” Stanford wrote at the time. “As an independently owned venue, we simply can’t shoulder these costs alone and continue to operate.
“Whilst development in the City of Yarra continues to grow, we face new challenges in keeping live music alive the way we love it. To secure The Night Cat’s future and ensure it remains a cornerstone of Melbourne’s music scene, we need to act now.”
The campaign exceeded its $70,000 goal, and efforts to soundproof the venue went ahead, with Stanford engaging the services of Melbourne’s Sound Capture to do so.
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“The venue has had some recent troubles with soundproofing, and we've had developers taking us to court,” Stanford said in July. “We have Agent of Change legislation in Melbourne, which is supposed to protect us from developers like that.
“The people that forced us to make this compliance and all these changes, they found the loopholes in the law.”
After appearing before VCAT yesterday, The Night Cat was victorious, and temporary orders that threatened its operations were lifted. The Night Cat is now, under law, treated the same as any other music venue when it comes to noise emissions.
Stanford said after the win, “This is a huge relief for our staff, our artists, and our community. The community saved us from closure, raising more than $78,000 through donations and benefit gigs. Yesterday’s result proves we were doing the right thing all along.”
Despite the win, Stanford has used his platform and experience to call for change regarding the current Agent of Change legislation in Victoria.
“The Barrister for the developer, Nick Tweedie, was actually an advisor in drafting the Agent of Change laws,” Stanford explained. “He’s now using his knowledge of those same laws to pressure venues like ours. That doesn’t pass the pub test.
“This fight has shown that venues like The Night Cat are still vulnerable. Agent of Change must be strengthened if Melbourne’s music culture is to survive.”
The Night Cat will continue to advocate for stronger protections for music venues across the city.
Having first opened its doors in 1994, The Night Cat is a long-standing and influential fixture of the Melbourne music scene. Countless bands and artists have performed on its stages over the years, including King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Amyl And The Sniffers, Charli XCX, The Teskey Brothers, Sampa The Great, and many others.
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