If you’ve found yourself on Sydney’s Enmore Road after dark in recent years, you’ll have noticed there’s something in the air – alfresco tables are busy with diners chatting over bowls of noodles late into the night, and live music rings out of the bustling bars that line the street. Some will know the precinct’s lively late-night spirit didn’t come about by accident: Enmore was the first suburb to see the pilot of a Special Entertainment Precinct (SEP) initiative. Now, in good news for night owls and live music lovers across the city, the government-backed initiative (which focuses on reducing red tape and incentivising later, more diverse and entertainment-focused trading) is set to be rolled out in suburbs across Sydney. Intrigued? Read on.
Back in March, it was announced that Balmain’s Darling Street was set to be the second SEP in the city – with the NSW government promising to introduce the changes after a consultation process with local businesses. And now, the Inner West Council is seeking to establish a further five SEPs: in Leichhardt, Dulwich Hill, Rozelle and two in Marrickville.
The exact locations of the additional SEPs across the city are yet to be confirmed, but there’s talk of Bondi Junction’s Oxford Street Mall being considered for a night-time boost, and the government has hinted at rolling out the initiative in Burwood, the Northern Beaches, Waverley and the City of Sydney.
The NSW government’s SEP initiative is part of their six-pronged plan to amp up Sydney’s nightlife, which Minister for Music and the Night-time Economy John Graham described as “about rebuilding the night-time economy block-by-block, neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood".
The "Vibrancy reforms" involve changes to legislation in certain areas to make later, more lively trading easier and more rewarding for businesses. As well welcoming as a precinct-wide one-hour trading-hour extension, nominated SEPs will see changes to approaches to noise complaints, and extended licensing rules to incentivise venues to host live music. The focus on promoting live music and performance is one of the main aims of the initiative, with venues able to trade for an additional two hours on nights that they host live entertainment.
The swathe of bars, entertainment venues and restaurants that have popped up in Enmore over the past few years earned the precinct a place on Time Out’s list of the coolest neighbourhoods in the whole world. So the prospect of more Enmore-esque streets in the city is music to our ears. You can learn more over here.
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