On Wednesday 15 March 2017 the Protecting the Vibe public meeting was co-hosted by the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre and Greens Member for Newtown Jenny Leong MP.
It followed on from a 2015 public meeting on the Newtown Vibe, called in response to community concerns around the Sydney lockouts and community safety, and gave the community the opportunity to hear about the work of the Newtown Vibe Roundtable, established after the initial public meeting, and to report in on the current vibe in Newtown.
Around 70 community members attended the meeting and, during a Q&A session, they raised concerns and presented ideas for keeping the Newtown local area vibrant, safe and open.
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| Photo by Karin Darker |
Overwhelmingly, the message from locals was that they love our area and want to make sure it remains diverse, warm and welcoming.
While it was agreed that the increased number of visitors had changed the mood on the streets late at night, particularly on the weekends, most people reported that the concerns raised at the 2015 public meeting about violence and anti-social behaviour were no longer such a big concern.
There are still genuine concerns around some issues, including night-time safety, that need to be addressed by the community and local stakeholders like the Vibe Roundtable working together.
Some of the other issues raised included: housing affordability and gentrification; the impacts of WestConnex; under-reporting of incidents to police; homophobia; public transport; over-development; and live music venues.
Read the minutes from the meeting.
The Newtown Vibe Roundtable also reported back on their work over the past 18 month. Read that report here.
