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In late 2024, Brisbane City Council approved Panettiere Developments’ plan for three build‑to‑rent towers—1,001 apartments at 75 Longland Street—right by The Triffid (see Development.i application A005590884 and project overview). The venue appealed, warning that shipping in a thousand new bedrooms without bullet‑proof sound design is basically an express lane to noise complaints and show curfews (see ABC’s report on the appeal).
The settlement, reached in May 2025, doesn’t mince decibels. Panettiere must rework building elements to keep the music inside the apartments from ever becoming a problem: thicker glazing, heavier concrete, smarter layouts that push bedrooms away from the noise line—so future residents aren’t dialling council every time a kick drum lands. Translation: if you build next to a venue, you carry the cost of coexistence. That’s new muscle for Brisbane’s music map (see coverage of the outcome and Courier‑Mail summary).
Why this matters beyond Newstead: Brisbane’s been sprinting skyward for a decade, and our best rooms are often crouched in the shadows of new glass. The Triffid’s fight was never just about itself; it was about whether the city expects culture to contort around construction—or expects development to show up with proper acoustic engineering and grown‑up risk planning. Even before he took on the official role of Night‑Life Economy Commissioner in 2024v Collins was the canary in this coal mine. Now, with the court‑ordered fix locked in, there’s a template other venues can point to when towers roll up on their doorstep.
Developers still get their skyline. Little Italy isn’t dead; Stage 1 is reportedly moving ahead, just with a more expensive envelope and fewer excuses later. That’s the price of doing business beside a room that anchors the city’s music identity. As Hutchies’ chair Scott Hutchinson put it, “live music’s more important than money”—a tidy thesis statement from the same crew that bankrolled Fortitude Music Hall so Brisbane had a cathedral for big nights (see the settlement report). If the city wants to keep that pulse, these are the kinds of guardrails that have to become normal.
Zoom out to the Bubble: Fortitude Valley, Newstead, Teneriffe, New Farm—density is our default now. The win here isn’t that shows can get louder; it’s that we’ve shifted responsibility upstream. You shouldn’t have to design a venue around hypothetical future complainers. If you buy or rent into a nightlife neighbourhood, the nightlife should already
be baked into the building. This decision nudges Brisbane from “hope the neighbours are cool” to “engineer so it doesn’t matter.”
What to watch next:
· Copy‑paste precedents. Expect other venues—The Zoo, Brightside, Valley staples—to wave this ruling when nearby DAs pop. If you’re lodging plans in the Valley and pretending noise isn’t part of the streetscape, good luck at court.
· Design as diplomacy. Acoustic glazing, concrete mass, and smart floorplans are cheaper than a dead precinct. Architects: your details now double as cultural policy.
· Policy catching up to reality. The Commissioner role exists; now it has case‑law energy behind it. That combo could harden best‑practice expectations across the city.
In late 2024, Brisbane City Council approved Panettiere Developments’ plan for three build‑to‑rent towers—1,001 apartments at 75 Longland Street—right by The Triffid (see Development.i application A005590884 and project overview). The venue appealed, warning that shipping in a thousand new bedrooms without bullet‑proof sound design is basically an express lane to noise complaints and show curfews (see ABC’s report on the appeal).
The settlement, reached in May 2025, doesn’t mince decibels. Panettiere must rework building elements to keep the music inside the apartments from ever becoming a problem: thicker glazing, heavier concrete, smarter layouts that push bedrooms away from the noise line—so future residents aren’t dialling council every time a kick drum lands. Translation: if you build next to a venue, you carry the cost of coexistence. That’s new muscle for Brisbane’s music map (see coverage of the outcome and Courier‑Mail summary).
Why this matters beyond Newstead: Brisbane’s been sprinting skyward for a decade, and our best rooms are often crouched in the shadows of new glass. The Triffid’s fight was never just about itself; it was about whether the city expects culture to contort around construction—or expects development to show up with proper acoustic engineering and grown‑up risk planning. Even before he took on the official role of Night‑Life Economy Commissioner in 2024v Collins was the canary in this coal mine. Now, with the court‑ordered fix locked in, there’s a template other venues can point to when towers roll up on their doorstep.
Developers still get their skyline. Little Italy isn’t dead; Stage 1 is reportedly moving ahead, just with a more expensive envelope and fewer excuses later. That’s the price of doing business beside a room that anchors the city’s music identity. As Hutchies’ chair Scott Hutchinson put it, “live music’s more important than money”—a tidy thesis statement from the same crew that bankrolled Fortitude Music Hall so Brisbane had a cathedral for big nights (see the settlement report). If the city wants to keep that pulse, these are the kinds of guardrails that have to become normal.
Zoom out to the Bubble: Fortitude Valley, Newstead, Teneriffe, New Farm—density is our default now. The win here isn’t that shows can get louder; it’s that we’ve shifted responsibility upstream. You shouldn’t have to design a venue around hypothetical future complainers. If you buy or rent into a nightlife neighbourhood, the nightlife should already
be baked into the building. This decision nudges Brisbane from “hope the neighbours are cool” to “engineer so it doesn’t matter.”
What to watch next:
· Copy‑paste precedents. Expect other venues—The Zoo, Brightside, Valley staples—to wave this ruling when nearby DAs pop. If you’re lodging plans in the Valley and pretending noise isn’t part of the streetscape, good luck at court.
· Design as diplomacy. Acoustic glazing, concrete mass, and smart floorplans are cheaper than a dead precinct. Architects: your details now double as cultural policy.
· Policy catching up to reality. The Commissioner role exists; now it has case‑law energy behind it. That combo could harden best‑practice expectations across the city.
