Greens Senator Accused Of War Against Live Music

A Sydney Greens Senator has been accused of 'waging war' against a live music venue as an ongoing dispute over noise regulations has exploded today.

Small Surry Hills venue Playbar shares a building with the office of Senator Lee Rhiannon, who they claim has made repeated complaints about the level of noise. Rhiannon's office denies the latest in a string of allegations in the last fortnight, telling theMusic.com.au that they're pushing for the landlord to install insulation – rather than shut the venue down.

It is believed they have made five complaints against the noise since the bar - which claims to be bringing "a little bit of Melbourne to Sydney" - opened in February.

The scandal is another potential hit to the 'music-friendly' Greens image after it was revealed in February that the party's Leichhardt Councillors had voted against applications from the Annandale Hotel that might have saved the venue's economic position years ago.

Today current Leichhardt Mayor Darcy Byrne, who has aligned himself as a staunch supporter of live music, said today, “Lee Rhiannon's war against small bars and live music in Surry Hills must come to an end. The Senator's ongoing, vexatious complaints conflict with her stated support for small bars and are in danger of sending this nascent live music venue to the wall.”

He accused the Senator of establishing an office in Surry Hills “to bring a trendy veneer to her political persona but has since dedicated herself to shutting down what makes Surry Hills a cool and interesting place… is for the Senator to go home for a cup of tea not for Surry Hills to shut down.”

Today Rihannon told theMusic.com.au, “I remain a strong supporter of live music and all we are asking is that the landlord do the right thing and reinstall proper insulation that he ripped out prior to renting the bar, so we can continue to live side by side. This is not a war against small bars and live music despite the impression Labor Mayor Darcy Byrne would like to create in an opportunistic bid to score political points against the Greens.

“The Greens have a solid record in supporting small bars and live music and this continues. City of Sydney Council is working to monitor the situation and find a solution.”

Her office added, “We are bewildered by Mayor Byrne's claim Lee is trying to 'grind to a halt' the proposal for a live music precinct on Parramatta Road. The Greens on Leichhardt Council voted in support of it. Lee has not made any comment against the initiative and is also supportive.”

Byrne claims that Sydney musicians were losing income while the dispute was ongoing.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore told theMusic, “I strongly support live music and I've asked City staff to work with all parties involved to resolve this. We established a Live Music and Performance Taskforce to develop solutions to ensure live music and performance are sustainable in densely populated urban areas.”

In early March a 'Bar Noise Intrusion Assessment' was prepared and found that due to a timber floor above the basement there was a “significant exceedance of the applicable noise criteria. It was determined that a significant upgrade to the noise separation between the basement bar and ground floor office world be required in order to comply with the Development Consent requirements.

“The Development Assessment Report prepared by Council for the basement bar application indicated that the floor/ceiling between the basement bar and office was to be upgrade [to concrete], however was observed not to have been carried out.”

The property's manager has not yet responded to theMusic.com.au's request for comment.

@leerhiannon If you don't like music at night go home for a cuppa instead of trying 2 shut down the small bar - It's Surry Hills! #livemusic

— Darcy Byrne (@MayorDarcy) April 16, 2013