Nightlife and creative sector panel elects co-chair

Sydney Fringe CEO and Festival Director Kerri Glasscock has been elected as co-chair of the City of Sydney’s nightlife and creative sector advisory panel alongside Councillor Jess Scully.

The new panel is made up of 15 experts who represent the hospitality, live music and performance, theatre, festivals, retail, business and public safety sectors.

The panel will offer advice to the City of Sydney about how it can support sustainable development of Sydney’s nightlife.

PICTURED: Back row, left to right – Justine Baker, John Ferris, Jacob Collier, Stephan Gyory, Michael Wynn-Jones, John Green, Kat Dopper, Greg Turton, Phillip Wadds, James Winter, Joshua Green, Kerri Glasscock. Front row, left to right – Emily Collins, Joy Ng, Cr Jess Scully, Emilya Colliver

Ms Glasscock brings 20 years of experience working in a variety of cultural, artistic and business roles, including as a founding co-director of 505, which has owned and operated live music club Venue 505 in Surry Hills for more than 13 years.

“I’m delighted to be co-chairing the City’s nightlife and creative sector advisory panel with Councillor Scully. It’s a wonderful acknowledgement that the nightlife of our city is an important and vital part of city living,” Ms Glasscock said.

“The overwhelmingly positive responses to the City’s recent discussion paper, An Open and Creative City, is testament to Sydneysiders’ desire and passion for a vibrant, diverse offering at night.

“The Sydney Fringe has worked for many years in partnership with the City to navigate the issues faced by many in our sector and to amplify the cultural offerings of the city as part of our annual arts festival.

“I look forward to continuing this work, and driving further change alongside my talented and passionate colleagues on this advisory group.”

The panel have identified their top five priorities: to change the narrative about Sydney’s nightlife, reduce regulation, promote stronger collaboration among stakeholders, deliver flexible buildings to enable more creativity and advocate for the introduction of 24-hour public transport.

The panel met for the second time yesterday and discussed reforms proposed in the discussion paper, An Open and Creative City.

Proposed reforms include allowing shops to trade later, encouraging more small-scale cultural activities and more diverse creative activity late at night, and introducing an ‘agent of change’ approach to more fairly manage sound from music venues.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore said she looked forward to working with the panel to boost Sydney’s nightlife.

“We know that artists, musicians and everybody working in Sydney’s creative sectors or late night economy are facing challenges,” the Lord Mayor said.

“The good news is that we have assembled a diverse panel of experienced and passionate people who have dedicated their valuable time to work with us on real solutions to the issues all global cities face.

“It is critical that we look beyond the NSW Government’s lockout laws and support the many individuals and businesses who are committed to keeping Sydney’s nightlife diverse, vibrant and interesting.”

Councillor Scully said she looked forward to working alongside fellow co-chair Ms Glasscock and the other members of the panel.

“Our panel brings together an amazing group of nightlife and creative experts with a huge amount of experience between them,” Councillor Scully said.

“We all agree that changing the narrative about Sydney’s nightlife is one of our biggest priorities as a panel and I am excited about working with Kerri and our panel to do this.

“Our community is on board too – as part of the City’s most recent community consultation, over 10,000 people told us they wanted more late night areas, extended opening hours and more things to do after dark.

“Tonight’s meeting was a great start. The panel jumped right into Sydney’s ‘late night development control plan’ to understand how our nightlife has changed, which includes huge growth in certain areas, and how we are changing our controls and policies to meet the needs of our night-time economy and growing community.”

For media inquiries or images, contact Alex Cauchi. Phone mobile 0467 803 815 or email [email protected]

For interviews with Lord Mayor Clover Moore, please contact Julia Lenton. Phone 0410 748 039 or email [email protected]