Christchurch venues worry they could be silenced

A clash of cultures is brewing in Christchurch, with the city council as the referee between art and commerce.

Some of the city's live music venue operators are worried their spaces could be silenced as Christchurch City Council encourages residential development in the inner city.

This was underlined after a total of 15,426​ noise complaints were received by the city council in 2020 - the highest number in 10 years.

Said Darkroom co-owner Feather Shaw: "We’re concerned that if residents move in who are not aware that we are here, and have been here for ages making a bit of noise with the live bands we host, that there’s potential they might make noise complaints and that could lead to our closure and the closure of our neighbouring venues."

Three venues are directly affected by an apartment complex being built in St Asaph St, not far from Little High Eatery. The operators of the Darkroom, Space Academy and 12 Bar believe developments like this could have a negative impact on the city's music scene.

Said 12 Bar music manager Kendra Walls: "If our venues close and other music venues close around the city then people won’t have anywhere to go, they won’t have a nightlife to go and enjoy. They enjoy live music, they enjoy original live music, so they want to come out, they want to have fun."

Save our Venues is part of a nationwide collective that aims to give a voice to smaller live music outlets.

Said Save our Venues spokesperson Taylor MacGregor: "It really is quite dramatic. These three venues, which have found themselves a home, all within a space of about 50 meters of each other, now have 18 townhouses being built in the lot directly next door to them."

MacGregor believes if these new homes are not adequately designed and sound-proofed, noise from the three venues could be deemed a disturbance. 

That could see businesses face restrictions or closures under current council regulations.

Said Shaw: "It would be devastating to lose these three venues. We’ve established a live music precinct and, if we close down, it could be the death of original live music in Christchurch."

Walls presented a case for the venues at a recent city council meeting. "We just want to work with the council to figure out a way that we can operate our venues. Music can exist across all of Otautahi and we have residents that live next to our venues and they want to live there."

The council is now considering options to work around the issue but has yet to make a decision.

- By John Spurdle
- Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air