There's been a lot of discussion about the fine handed down by Inner West Council to the Addison Road Community Centre (ARCCO) after a recent Vegan Market breached ARCCO's development consent. Here's the report Council staff have prepared for our next meeting on Tuesday 10 April. As always, I'd love to know what you think.
This report has been extracted from the Supplementary Agenda for the Inner West Council meeting on Tuesday 10 April.
If you wish to speak at the Council meeting on this or any other item, you'll need to register by 2pm Tuesday on Council's website.
ADDISON ROAD COMMUNITY CENTRE – 142 ADDISON ROAD, MARRICKVILLE
(i) The Current Approval
Determination No. 201600681, dated 30 March 2017, approved a cross cultural celebration for up to 500 people in the Addison Road Community Centre every second Saturday for a period of 13 months commencing on 6 May 2017 with the event including live music, food, information stalls, entertainment and ARC art exhibitions.
The consent includes the following most relevant conditions:
3. Access to each event being restricted only to patrons with purchased tickets up to a maximum capacity of 500 patrons for the entire duration of the event.
Reason: To confirm the details of the application as submitted by the applicant and terms of Council’s approval.
4. Each event being restricted as follows:
a) A maximum of 25 food/merchant stalls;
b) 1 stage located within the Great Hall; and
c) A maximum of 50 staff (stall holders, event performers, event managers/organisers and security staff).
Reason: To confirm the details of the application as submitted by the applicant and terms of Council’s approval.
9. The event and event preparation works must be restricted to the following hours:
a) Deliveries and erection of infrastructure and all other works associated with the preparation for the event being carried out between the hours of 1:00pm and 4:00pm on the day of the event;
b) The hours of operation of the event being restricted to between the hours of 4.00pm to 8:00pm on the day of the event;
c) Dismantling and removal of infrastructure and cleaning being completed between the hours of 8:00pm and 10:00pm on the day of the event; and
d) The organisers to ensure that the approved hours are adequately advertised and adhered to at all times by all contractors, service providers and patrons of the event.
Reason: To ensure the hours of operation does not interfere with the amenity of surrounding residential areas and general park users.
(ii) Background
Following the receipt of complaints from the community, on 2 March 2018, Council staff contacted the Addison Road Community Centre in relation to markets being hosted beyond the scope of the development consent. The purpose of the phone call was to explain Council’s role, responsibilities and the expectations with compliance in relation to the markets in how they operate.
The complaints from the community related to the number of market stalls and a breach of the approved hours of operation.
Further to this telephone call, on 2 March 2018, a letter was emailed to the CEO of the Addison Road Community Centre outlining the requirements/limitations of the existing consent and advising that if breaches were detected, on the spot fines may be issued without further notice. A copy of the development consent was provided to the Addison Road Community Centre.
(iii) Key Breaches
On 3 March 2018 Council Officers attending the site identified the following key breaches:
- There were more than 100 food stalls in contravention of the consent which limits the
event to a maximum of 25 food/merchant stalls. - There were no pre-ticketed sales to the public restricting the event to a maximum of 500 people resulting in more than 5,000 people attending the event (it was reported in the Inner West Courier that 9,000 people attended the event).
- The event was an all-day event and not restricted to the approved hours of operation (i.e. 4.00pm to 8.00pm).
- The above non-compliances resulted in significant traffic and parking implications for the surrounding area.
Given the significance of the breaches a penalty infringement notice was issued.
(iv) Path Forward / Next Steps
On 13 March 2018 the Addison Road Community Centre lodged a Section 4.55 application that sought to modify Determination No. 201600681, dated 30 March 2017, in the following manner:
- Extend the time limited consent for an additional 15 months;
- Make the event a weekly free event for “approximately” 5,000 people;
- Modify the event times to 9.00am to 5.00pm (with set up and pack up from 6.00am to 6.00pm); and
- Increase the number of stalls to 120.
The Section 4.55 application was rejected by Council as the proposal was found to be not “substantially the same development as the development for which consent was originally granted”. The proponent was advised that it is not possible to use the provisions under Section 4.55 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act to increase the intensity of the event in the manner proposed (i.e. increase the number of stalls from 25 to 120; increase the frequency of the event from fortnightly to weekly; and increase the number of attendees from 500 to 5,000).
On 27 March 2018 the Addison Road Community Centre lodged a Section 4.55 application that sought to modify Determination No. 201600681, dated 30 March 2017, to extend the existing time limited consent for an additional 15 months (until Saturday 29 June 2019) but with no other changes sought to the intensity / operation of the current approved event. That application is currently under assessment.
In order to seek approval for an event containing 120 stalls for up to 5,000 people, the Addison Road Community Centre would need to submit a Development Application. The Development Application would need to be accompanied by the relevant supporting documentation, including but not limited to the following:
- Detailed site plan indicating the event layout;
- Statement of Environmental Effects addressing matters such as
- Number of attendees;
- Potential Acoustic impacts;
- Hours of event including set up and dismantling of infrastructure;
- Parking/traffic impacts; - Event Management Plan
- Security Management Plan
- Waste Management Plan
- Noise Management Plan
- Traffic Management Plan
The Development Application would be notified to surrounding residents for comment.
Given the size of the event, the proponent would be encouraged to lodge a Pre-Development Application to seek preliminary advice from Council on the proposed event and the level / type of documentation that would be expected as part of any Development Application.
(v) Fees associated with the Pre-DA and DA
Under the current Fees and Charges, the fee for a Pre-DA meeting with a written letter of advice is $393. The fee for the subsequent Development Application would be around $800 (depending on the approximate cost of work).
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