Project status: Closed

Nightlife in our city is more vibrant than ever, with restaurants, live music and other entertainment activity. Noise is part of city living; it’s the trade-off for being close to where you can work and play.

As more people choose to live in our city centres, the ACT Government is considering how we balance a liveable city with one that delivers a vibrant and diverse night-time economy.

The ACT Government is considering urban planning and noise regulation through several projects which are summarised in the 2019 Entertainment Action Plan.

We looked at

Extending current daytime noise standards, which are louder than night-time standards, on Friday and Saturday nights in:

  • the city centre and town centres (Woden, Tuggeranong, Belconnen and Gungahlin) from 10pm to midnight
  • group centres from 10pm to 11pm. Group centres provide shops, commercial and community services for a group of suburbs—see the list of group centres at ‘What does this mean for me’ below.

Consultation closed on 22 September 2019. The listening report summarises our findings and outlines the important issues you raised.

The noise levels were extended on 24 December 2019 through legislative changes to noise restrictions under the Environment Protection Regulation 2005.

This change is part of our broader review of entertainment and urban sounds being led through the Entertainment Action Plan and ACT Planning Review.

How you had your say

We proposed to extend daytime noise standards for the city centre (including Braddon commercial area), town and group centres further into the evening on Fridays and Saturdays.

Consultation on extending noise standards closed on 22 September 2019.

The listening report summarises our findings and outlines the important issues you raised.

Your views are being used to

Your input informed our decision about extending the noise levels in the evening.

As the Entertainment Action Plan is implemented, there will be further opportunities to have your say – particularly through the ACT planning review.