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Hospitality figure seeks voice on council

Sep 03, 2014

Publican and music industry figure Gareth Lewis is making a bid to give the hospitality and live music industries a voice on Adelaide City Council.

Lewis will stand as an area councillor at the October-November elections.

Lewis said he would use a seat on council to remove barriers to live music events in the parklands and push for more liquor licensing reform.

He also wants to encourage city businesses to use local produce and stock local beer and wine.

Lewis owns and operates the King’s Head Hotel and Jack Ruby Bar and Diner on King William Street. He is also licensee for the Soundwave and Laneway music festivals.

Lewis employs around 500 staff each year in his roles as director of General Admission Entertainment and owner-operator of several licensed venues.

“I’ve been in the hospitality industry in the city for the last nine years,” he said.

“I think [the hospitality industry] should be heard and given weight.”

Restaurant and Catering SA CEO Sally Neville said Lewis would be a strong advocate for the industry.

“If he does get onto council, we look forward to having an advocate who has the best interests of the sector and the community in his sights,” she said.

“Gareth has extensive interests and experience in the sector, so I’m sure he’ll bring that representation to the council.”

Lewis told InDaily he has been impressed, for the most part, by Adelaide City Council’s attitude towards live music events since the current council was elected in 2010.

“I’d like to see the momentum continue,” Lewis said.

“I think there’s a real risk of that momentum coming to a halt if the makeup of the council is, I suppose, heavily conservative.

“I’m not going to be publicly supporting any lord mayoral candidate, but I think the direction that the council has taken in the past four years has been fantastic.”

Lewis said he wanted to make it easier for large music events to be held in Adelaide’s parklands.

“It’s a very difficult process compared to a lot of other interstate city councils,” he said.

“We’ve run the same event in the same parklands, in the case of Soundwave … since 2008, and we’re having every single year go through the same justification for the event being in the same place.

“There should be encouragement as opposed to roadblocks for promoters to bring their shows to town.”

Adelaide City Council’s vibrant city program manager Penny McAuley said the council was a big supporter of live music events in the city.

“Adelaide City Council is committed to creating a vibrant city, full of exciting activities, of which music events in the city are recognised as making a significant contribution,” McAuley said.

She said events that disrupt areas of the parklands over a period of days must be subject to public consultation each time they are proposed.

“We need to ensure that the public feel they’ve had a chance to have a voice.”

In April, Soundwave was forced to forfeit a $10,000 bond for breaching noise restrictions.

“Soundwave forfeited its bond due to the noise levels being exceeded for more than 33% of the total event duration,” said a statement from Adelaide City Council at the time.

“It is correct that Adelaide City Council and Soundwave received several complaints during this year’s event, these complaints have not attributed to the forfeit of the noise bond.

“ACC welcomes a booking application from Soundwave for their venue of choice of their 2015 event.”

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