A Towradgi resident was so fed up with noise coming from the Towradgi Beach Hotel that they remodelled their house to move bedroom away from the live music venue, but Liquor & Gaming NSW has struck down the resident's noise complaint.
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The resident, who has lived in the location for 17 years, made the noise complaint to the hotel regulator in March 2021, alleging that amplified music played throughout the beer garden was causing an undue disturbance to nearby neighbours, particularly on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.
The complaint targeted changes to the beer garden where a bar and speakers were installed, as well as the pub hosting trivia on Tuesdays.
A second complaint was lodged in April 2021 by a local resident who said loud music made it impossible to sit outside, have windows open, watch TV or sleep in their home.
These noise complaints were not the first time that the popular nightspot had raised the ire of local residents. A flurry of complaints were lodged between December 2020 and March 2021, however Liquor & Gaming NSW took no action.
In response to the complaint, the owners of the Towradgi Beach Hotel brought in sound specialists to conduct acoustic testing.
The tests found noise levels exceeded limits at the residential boundaries to the north and west of the hotel, "due to children playing in the outdoor play area" and the bass component of the music playing from the beer garden.
A number of sound mitigation measures were proposed, including placing absorptive materials over reflective surface, noise screening around the children's playground and repositioning the outdoor speakers.
The complaint also refers to Wollongong City Council's order that the O Bar and Beach Bar be demolished as they were constructed without development consent, as well as using the beer garden as an entertainment area with the construction of two large timber decks.
The hotel appealed this decision to the Land and Environment Court and reached an agreement with Wollongong council that the structures can stay and that no DJ can play in the beer garden.
In submissions from NSW Police, Liquor & Gaming NSW also heard that since being renovated the hotel has become increasingly popular and is a key nightlife destination in the Illawarra and for live music.
The complaint said that these facilities should be located in an entertainment precinct "not a small suburb located 5 kilometres north of Wollongong".
Ultimately, while finding the noise had "unduly disturbed" the neighbourhood, the mitigation measures in place since the first complaints were received and the decisions of the Land and Environment satisfied John Coady, manager regulatory interventions at Liquor & Gaming that no further action was needed.
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