Howler Music Venue Threatened by Proposed Apartment Block Next Door, Say Owners
Carolyn WebbThe co-owner of a top Melbourne live music venue fears an apartment block planned for next door could threaten the bar’s survival.
Brendan Brogan said lower floor bedrooms of the proposed eight-storey development in Brunswick would be metres from the stage of the popular Howler bar, and noise complaints from residents could put the venue at risk.
Brendan Brogan outside Howler, with the site of the proposed apartment block next door. Photo: Eddie Jim
Mr Brogan discovered the plan two weeks ago and is “quite worried”, with the block to run along the east side of his venue for about 50 metres. Fans have spoken out on social media.
Mr Brogan said the public had until next Monday to object to Moreland council.
An artist’s impression of the eight storey apartment block proposed for Michael Street, Brunswick. Photo: Supplied
“If the proposal got built in its current format, it would certainly threaten our business,” he said.
“Unless they illustrated appropriate sound attenuation in their design – which currently they don’t – in its current format I don’t know how people would live in their apartments.”
He feared “as time went on those people would complain to us about noise that we’d been legally emitting”. Mr Brogan said he wasn’t asking for the 74-apartment block on Michael Street not to be built, but that apartments closest to Howler’s stage could perhaps be set back, with sound suppressing materials used in its walls.
Brendan Brogan in front of Howler in Brunswick. Photo: Eddie Jim
Under “agent of change” laws introduced by the state government three years ago, residential developments built within 50 metres of a live music venue were responsible for noise mitigation as part of the planning process.
But Mr Brogan said he was “not particularly trusting of developers”.
Co-owner Brendan Brogan at the bar of Howler in Brunswick. Photo: Eddie Jim
He had found no reference in the planning application to agent of change, nor of noise muffling measures. He said the developer hadn’t spoken with the owners of Howler.
He said the planning application mentioned Howler, among others, as a surrounding business and not specifically as being next door.
Howler, which is open from noon to 1am, seven days a week, can hold more than 600 punters and has hosted such acts as Courtney Barnett, Hiatus Kaiyote, and Bill Callahan.
Federal MP for Wills Peter Khalil has written to the council and the Planning Minister to raise concerns about the plan.
He said local venues and arts spaces “are a huge part of the reason that Brunswick is widely regarded as such a great place to live, work and recreate”.
“If any development threatens the ongoing viability of such an important part of our community, it is incumbent on council and other decision-makers to insist that the proper work is done to ensure new residents can comfortably coexist with existing businesses.”
Efforts to contact the developer, Brunswick Holdings, were not successful.
