The petition was sparked by Dux Central having to drop live music in December after a local resident complained about the noise (file image). Photo: Unsplash / Long Truong
Christchurch residents concerned about the future of the city's nightlife are calling for noise limits to be relaxed.
A petition, which has more than 3500 signatures, was presented to the Christchurch City Council on 1 February, asking for the maximum permitted decibels (dB) within the central city to be raised from 60dB to 140dB.
Former mayoral candidate and musician Mark Chirnside presented the petition.
Chirnside said the petition was sparked by city bar Dux Central having to drop live music in December after a local resident complained about the noise.
Chirnside said petition signatories believed Christchurch risked losing its nightlife unless the noise limits were changed, and were concerned about the future of live music at venues.
"The spirit behind the petition is; you want an environment where live music can happen, where you can have a noisy and vibrant inner city," he said.
Chrinside said he would continue to consult with other lobbying groups such as Save Our Venues, and inner city venue owners to push the issue to the council.
A Christchurch City Council spokesperson said the issues identified in the petition were complex, and staff had started identifying a range of regulatory and non-regulatory ideas to address the concerns.
"We're drawing these ideas from what has been done elsewhere in New Zealand and overseas. We want our central city to be a vibrant place that is able to accommodate both live music and residential living," the spokesperson said.
They said a plan change to the District Plan was being considered as one of the methods to manage the interface between residential activity and live music/ entertainment in the central city, and noise levels would be considered as part of that plan change process.