The Squire's Landing can open 24/7

The Squire’s Landing has now been granted State Government approval to operate its indoor spaces 24/7.
The approval is the first of its kind since the NSW Government introduced Special Entertainment Precincts to help shape Sydney’s night-time economy.
Residents of a building across the water have smothered progress with exaggerated noise complaints.
READ MORE: Bondi’s legendary NYE festival, Shore Thing, is coming back.

The NSW Government’s honourable attempt to make Sydney a genuine 24/7 city just had a major win as Squire’s Landing in The Rocks begins trading ’round the clock.

One of the world’s most picturesque gastropubs, glass-fronted with dreamy, panoramic views of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge, will now trade continuously throughout the week, making it just one of two venues in the heavily touristed area that is allowed to trade 24/7.

The Squire’s Landing’s 24-hour trade was this week approved by the state government as part of a long, noisy back-and-forth between Squire’s Landing and the residents of one of the city’s most expensive apartment buildings, the Bennelong One building that’s located across the water.

Potential noise complaints from residents who chose to live on a global city’s busy waterfront precinct have been smothering Sydney’s vibrancy for far too long, it seems.

Both the NSW Government and the City of Sydney have declared war on Not In My Back Yard neighbours who buy property near nighttime businesses and then complain about them

Today’s news is another win – and was being hailed as a turning point.

Paul Nicolaou, executive director of BusinessSydney hailed the move: “Sydney, ‘sanity has prevailed’! Squire’s Landing at The Rocks, has been granted state government approval to open its doors to patrons around the clock – a move it says will revive the “vibrancy” and night-time economy of the waterfront precinct.

“The noise battle between Squire’s Landing and the residents of one of the city’s ritziest apartment buildings has come to a head following a dispute over the pub’s plans to begin trading 24 hours a day.

“The approval is the first time a venue has been granted the green light to operate 24/7 since City of Sydney councillors voted in favour of creating new special entertainment precincts to boost night-life in parts of the CBD including Circular Quay, Darling Harbour and Surry Hills.”

*If complaining was an Olympic sport, Sydney’s next elite athlete lives in one of these apartments.*

Residential noise complaints have long been an issue for the city and are a bugbear for anyone trying to align Sydney with staggering night-time economies like New York City, Tokyo and London. When the disputes first emerged late last year, it was alleged that 20 apartments in the building, colloquially known as “The Toaster,” filed Karen-grade noise complaints to try and prevent The Squire’s Landing from trading 24/7.

Concerns that noise will travel across the water and prevent them from going to sleep between 9:30pm and 10pm were dismissed, as were their claims that longer nightlife hours would impact their “health and well-being”.

The Squire’s Landing sits in the designated late-night zone and is one of several venues in Circular Quay that has applied for a year-long trial for a 24/7 license. It’s also the first to be granted such a thing since Sydney councillors voted in favour of creating “special entertainment precincts” to help strip the city of it’s oodles of red time and boost night-life in key parts of the CBD and beyond.

As such, the Department of Planning considers The Squire’s Landing—the most distinct of the many Australian brewhouses operated by James Squire—a Category B premise, which indicates low impact since it’s a venue that has capacity for fewer than 120 patrons at a time. The recent approval now means the circular brewhouse, adjacent to Quay and Overseas Passenger Terminal, can now trade 24/7 indoors and up until 1am outdoors.

On New Year’s Eve, The Squire’s Landing can open its outdoor spaces until 2am.

The approval is on a trial basis and should apply for the next 12 months.

But it appears the battle between trying to keep these Special Entertainment Precincts off the ground, and residents who apparently can’t afford to properly sound-proof their expensive apartments, is far from over. Especially since the Sydney Opera House has already been forced to curb its activity to reduce “disturbances” for the elite Bennelong building.

But, really, how “elite” are you if you want to smother an entire city’s progress just so you can go to bed between 9:30pm and 10pm, and are too daft to use some of your undoubtedly large disposable income on a good pair of earplugs, or even better, actual noise insulation?

Money, it appears, cannot buy emotional maturity.

The Squire’s Landing

Address: Overseas Passenger Terminal, Circular Quay W, The Rocks NSW 2000
Contact: (02) 8014 5663
Opening Hours: 24 hours, seven days a week