Cold wind rattles Dunedin Musos

Music

Bands and fans are on edge as a major breeding ground of the southern city’s famed soundscapes, gaining new neighbors avoiding noise

A cold and wet Sunday that would keep most people indoors didn’t stop dedicated music fans from organizing a protest yesterday against the chilly wind blowing from Dunedin City Council.

The council, which is helping the chain roll out a live music action plan, has approved an application to build apartments next door to the Crown Hotel, one of the city’s shrinking music venues and a nursery for emerging bands.

While work on the four-storey multi-purpose building in Rattray St has not yet begun, David Bennett of Save Dunedin Live Music, founded after nearby Bark venue was plagued by noise complaints, can see the writing on the wall in front of the Crown.

“Over the past 10 years there has been an erosion of music venues in the city and it’s getting pretty dire at the moment,” he said on RNZ National’s Music 101 prior to the protest.

“There are many contributing factors, but noise certainly played a role.”

The Crown Hotel and vacant section for which apartments, shops and offices are planned. Photo: Anthony Doesburg

The threat to the Crown drew dozens of people to a stage in the Octagon in central Dunedin, where bands and speakers braved the circumstances to encourage protesters to email the council in support of the pub.

Bennett told RNZ his group has been meeting with the council for the past year about the live music plan, which has been helped for reasons unknown to him.

Last December, Mayor Aaron Hawkins told Newsroom that a report on the action plan would go to a council budget meeting in late January of this year “to see how we can continue to fund that work.” But nothing concrete has come of it.

The municipality’s website promotes the city’s ‘thriving and internationally respected music sector’ [which] ranges from counterculture in the footsteps of the Dunedin Sound to the esteemed Southern Sinfonia.” But Bennett says support for the music scene has faded over the past two decades.

“It is rare worldwide for a city to be recognized for its own music scene. It’s a big part of Dunedin’s history and the council is still counting on it.”

There has been one potentially encouraging sign in a July news story in the Otago Daily Times quoting Hawkins as saying that the planning suggestions arising from the live music action plan deliberations include a proposal to strengthen the acoustic insulation performance standard.

This could give residents of new apartments near music venues less reason to complain about noise pollution.

Relieved but not hopeful

Jones Chin, who was co-owner and brother Sam at the Octagon protest with Crown, was heartened by the statement. However, he has no illusions about the risk of nuisance from neighbors.

While it may be possible to keep tire noise within acceptable limits, he says the likelihood of complaints about pub-goers gathering outside on the street to smoke and talk likely remains.

Crown Hotel owner Jones Chin. Photo: Anthony Doesburg

As Bennett told RNZ National, it’s the willingness of the Chins to make the Crown irreplaceable with every new band that appears on stage. It is the only venue for bands that play ‘really out-there stuff’.

“Without it, they wouldn’t be able to play anywhere.

“It’s one of the few locations in town where you can rock a full band and say, ‘We want to play a date.’ Jones just pulls out the book and finds you the next available day.”

That support was acknowledged by Masin, lead singer of Crown regulars Black-Sale House, who performed during the Octagon protest, with a shout-out to “Jonesy.”

Dunedin’s music scene remains “incredibly good” according to Bennett, but regulatory hurdles must be removed.

“We’re going to ask the council to hurry up and start setting regulations and urban planning goals that promote both live music and development.”

* Created with support from the Public Interest Journalism Fund