The Australian Hotels Association (AHA) has hit back at claims made by WA independent music venue Noodle Palace that it does not support public events.
- AHA claim Noodle Palace did not obtain correct approval
- JumpClimb refute AHA’s claims
- An AHA newsletter questioned the validity of the Noodle Palace event
As we reported earlier in the week, Noodle Palace publicly expressed its disappointment that the City Of Perth rejected an application for it to host an event at a "former Megamart Building", and suggested the AHA don’t "believe that events like Noodle Palace do not benefit Northbridge and Perth City".
Speaking to The Music, AHA CEO Bradley Woods has claimed that that Noodle Palace’s comments are off the mark.
"The application that they made to the City of Perth… was in a building that had no approvals to be used as a public building and they were required to have a development application in place and approved because of the fire, safety, noise, emergency exit, management issues," Woods says.
"Our argument is that wherever these events are held, they should all meet the same standard. There’s a public issue here about safety, there’s a public issue here about fire and protection. There has to be environmental approvals in terms of building standards… just as there is for anyone else. And that hadn’t occurred in this occasion.”
"If Noodle Palace wanted to still go ahead with it, they can do it in conjunction with an existing, approved public venue that has license to allow to occur.
"They were choosing not to do that in their original application and that was a commercial decision that they were making."
However, JumpClimb Director Aaron Rutter has since responded to Woodley’s claims, insisting that the building did have the correct license, but were told by the City that the event was deemed "high risk".
Rutter tells The Music, "We commenced communication with the City on the 20th of June. The official event application was submitted on the 14th of July, on the request of the City. Between these two dates, all event management plans, sound modelling, liquor license applications, risk management plans were supplied, a site visit was done with the City officers and local businesses were consulted. This is the same timing process as previous successful applications to the City.
"The event however, was deemed a 'high risk' event that needed six months notice and was declined on this basis.
"The City now needs six months notice for all events if they are deemed high risk and this can be put down to a heightened focus on patron safety due to terrorism and public safety concerns caused by recent world events.
"We are in the game of producing events that are fun and engaging, but most importantly - safe."
The Music has obtained a copy of the Certificate of Building Compliance that states as long as Noodle Palace worked to the City’s conditions, the building and its event management plans had ticked all of the safety requirements.
Rutter backs up JumpClimb's claims that AHA do not support public events like Noodle Palace by referencing a statement sent out to its members regarding last weekend's axed event.
"At a time when business is tough and proving difficult for even the most experienced operators, there is a difference between genuine community events and commercial events that are not community festivals," the AHA statement reads.
"The AHA(WA) have raised concerns with a number of government authorities about the lack of public consultation for this event, especially given its size and duration, and examined a number of issues.
"The AHA has also spoken to a number of members in proximity to the proposed pop-up, and while a small number see the potential for their local area, the majority are understandably concerned about the number of patrons being taken out of their venues in an already quiet trading period, along with the 2am closing time effectively limiting any possibility of post event benefit to the surrounding permanent venues."
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