Owner: Council gave no quarter
NIGHTQUARTER warned the council before closing at Helensvale that its ramped-up rival live music program funded by ratepayers was “catastrophic” for commercial operators.
NightQuarter managing director Ian Van Der Woude wrote to CEO Dale Dickson in December, two months before the music and food hub closed due to doubling rents.
He said NightQuarter was facing increasing competition from council funded and sponsored music events after City Hall ticked off on an annual budget of $20 million to the alliances and $90 million for HOTA for the next few years.
Mr Van De Woude said NightQuarter had more than 80 stallholders, employed more than 400 staff and paid $60,000 in rates.
The council had “morphed the (live music) strategy into a large commercial business that competes unfairly with other operators like ourselves”, he wrote.
“I am concerned that should the activity go unchecked, or based on current plans, continue to ramp up, then the disruption to the music and event industry will have catastrophic, longer term effects for the Gold Coast,” Mr Van Der Woude wrote.
He said numbers at NightQuarter would be down by 500 to 750 people per night when free events such as Blues on Broadbeach were on and it could not host similar acts for a two-to-three-month period.
NightQuarter had booked Kate Cerebrano for a concern in November 2016 and “found it very difficult to sell tickets for around $40” only to discover the council had booked the Aussie singer for the Lord Mayor’s Christmas Carols a few weeks later.
The Summertime Sessions in Mudgeeraba village featuring local buskers, while on a smaller scale, had an impact leading to a complaint about local councillor Glenn Tozer, who hosts the event.
“It is held on Fridays between 5.30pm and 7.30pm and directly takes away patrons from the southern end of our trade catchment area. We notice our door numbers decline when he hosts this event,” Mr Van Der Woude said.
Cr Tozer strongly rejected the claims, saying Summertime Sessions attracted about 80 people who were later encouraged to visit NightQuarter.
“One of the reasons we host the sessions is to activate the Friday night economy in Mudgeeraba village,” Cr Tozer said. “Any suggestion it could ever deliver a commercial impact to a venue 25 minutes north is pretty questionable.”
Mr Van De Woude in the letter wrote: “Our venue has never received any council or government financial support and has been totally funded by just me and my wife, Michelle.
“... I believe that what GCCC is now doing in the entertainment and event space amounts to unfair competition …”
A city spokesperson told the Bulletin: “The City is very proud to support live music on the Gold Coast and is committed to providing family-friendly, lowcost events for our community. We strongly deny suggestions the City is acting inappropriately in this matter.”