Entertainment precincts are a great way for cities to demarcate where noise and other public disturbances can happen so that they won’t disrupt local residents from having a peaceful night’s sleep. But even when they are operating as designed, noise can quickly become a huge issue for the businesses that trade within the districts. As one business attracts customers, those customers chat over each other; the music gets turned up; more customers come in because the place looks lively. Then neighbouring businesses want to compete, so they turn up their own music to appear more lively, and it devolves into a vicious arms race of noise that harms customers and attracts complaints, potentially even leading to venue closures. So what can be done? Let’s explore.
Entertainment districts, like our own Fortitude Valley here in Queensland, Scottsdale AZ’s historic Old Town, Soho in London or Bourbon Street in New Orleans are some of the biggest drivers of both tourist and resident discretionary spending for cities. Bars, nightclubs, live music, restaurants, art galleries, theatres, and more thrive in these districts, but are also required to maintain certain standards to stay licenced and operational. Entertainment districts also provide a further benefit to regulatory teams, police, and service providers by grouping many businesses they need to monitor in one place, reducing travel costs and workforce size. However, this leads both businesses and regulators to be put under pressure: businesses are located near their customers, but they need to get enough customers coming through their door (and not their neighbours’) to stay afloat. Enforcement teams have to deal with multiple venues all in close proximity, making identifying the worst offenders difficult. Doing that with handheld devices means they are run off their feet at all hours to catch the infringements the community are reporting. And if they’re not in the right place at the right time (spoiler: mostly they are not), there is no way to tell who was causing the issues.
This is where an open dialog and shared technologies between all parties can lead to some highly effective outcomes. If, between the community, regulators, and entertainment businesses, the parties can agree on a single set of standards, it may not meet everyone's needs, but at least it can be enforced and provide clarity and consistency. Then a set of tools can be deployed to help manage (and, if necessary, enforce) those standards. This can include:
External Remote Monitoring: Installing devices like NoiseNet’s PinPoint around the district allows enforcement teams to get accurate noise level monitoring without needing to have boots on the ground. This gives more accurate and objective data for those cases where it’s needed, and helps keep morale high in enforcement teams by reducing workload and keeping the teams working more standard business hours.
Desk-side Noise Reporting: By installing noise reporting tools in the same location as the noise levels are controlled – that is, the sound engineer or DJ’s desk – the first point of contact with the noise source is able to be immediately alerted if decibels are exceeding a pre-set threshold, even if that is distant to the venue. Then they can easily adjust sound levels without needing to get other parties involved. This helps ensure compliance, and avoids fines – or worse, the venue being shut down.
Legislative Adjustments: The City of Sydney recently unveiled changes to their noise complaint regulations that were built alongside businesses, enforcement teams, and the general public. They’ve been designed to protect all parties from the unwanted effects of noise, and we wholeheartedly believe they are a solid part of the perfect solution to Sydney’s nightlife problem (alongside efficient and effective monitoring and reporting, per the above two points). While it can take a long time to develop and implement such adjustments in a city, they are an excellent way to enact long-lasting positive change.
If you’re part of the entertainment district equation in your city – no matter if you’re a business owner, a regulator, or a government official – NoiseNet has the tools to help you address your noise problems. We don’t want to hear another story about a popular bar closing due to noise complaints, but equally we don’t want to see residents tortured by that one business that breaks all the rules and gets away with it time after time. Please reach out to us today to discuss how our simple and effective noise monitoring solutions can be tailored to your needs at go.noisenet.com/your-needs/.
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