Longing for the day ...

Nice to have a win!

Just read about the impending changes to Queensland's town planning laws, which will create a "cultural precinct" in Fortitude Valley and stop residential developers from destroying live-music development in Brisbane.

I have been a direct victim of this myself, when I was playing in a band on regular Sunday afternoons at Southbank's "Ned Kelly's" restaurant - outdoors on the boardwalk. Perfect for the Brisbane climate. Unfortunately, some redsidential developers cashed in on this lifestyle by building HUGE apartment blocks right behind the restaurant. And as soon as the residents (who presumably bought because of the proximity to the Southbank scene) complained about the noise, the whole operation was shut down. This scenario has been repeated in capital cities all over Australia.

But now, the government and Brisbane City Council have, afgter some intense lobbying led by Q-music and Powderfinger, seen some sense and changed the rules. The new rules allow for venues within the precinct to have increased noise levels at prescribed times - as long as they provid extra noise-proofing and so on.

Not a perfect solution for the musos and their supporters, but better than being continually pushed around by developers trading (ironically) on the promise of cultural proximity.

We'll have to see what happens a year after the laws come into effect in March 2006 ...