Residents of an apartment block built eight years ago are at war with a neighbouring 164-year-old pub over noise, but they’re not getting much sympathy.
Homeowners next door to The Deck, a heritage listed pub in Geelong, Victoria, claim noise from the hotel’s beer garden can hit 80 decibels – equivalent to a lawnmower.
They want the beer garden, which is open until the early hours of the morning on weekends, to be shut down.
Pub owner George Zurcan has shrugged off multiple complaints and said the noise was ‘just one of those things you have to deal with’.
Residents of an apartment block (left) built eight years ago have been labelled ‘entitled whingers’ for complaining about noise coming from a neighbouring 164-year-old pub (centre)
Pub owner, George Zurcan (pictured), has shrugged off the complaints saying the noise is just something residents should ‘deal with’
Angel, an apartment resident, lives just 20 metres away from the beer garden, which blasts music every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.
She told A Current Affair she often gets to sleep at around 2am.
‘We just don’t know what to do,’ Angel said.
‘We’ve been complaining, calling the police. We are working with the council and we aren’t getting a response from them.’
The Deck (pictured), an a 164-year-old pub in Geelong, has been subjected to numerous complaints from neighbouring residents for making too much noise
Wes Jay, who lives on the seventh floor of the apartment, described the noise from the beer garden as ‘unbearable’.
‘We simply don’t want music at three o’ clock in the morning blaring out at levels that it is,’ he said.
‘I love my music and I really enjoy it but I also love my sleep.’
Angel and Mr Jay said they’re not fighting to shut down the pub, but simply want them to ‘cooperate’ and control the noise level.
‘We don’t want the pub to close because we know it’s a business. We just want to get sleep at night,’ Angel said.
Mr Zurcan said the pub was noisy, but argued the aggrieved residents knew where they were going to live when they signed their lease or purchased their home.
‘I probably wouldn’t have moved there to be honest knowing that there’s a beer garden next door that’s been established for 30 or 40 years,’ he said.
Angel (pictured left), who lives in the pub’s neighbouring apartment, says she often gets to sleep late at about 2am because of the blaring noise
Mr Zurcan placed the blame for the noise row squarely on the council.
‘They approved for that apartment building to go up. It goes up, they get complaints and then try and shut us down,’ he said.
Victoria based town planner, Bill Kusznirscuk disagreed.
‘Just because a pub’s 164 years old, that doesn’t mean much in terms of how it’s impacting upon residents in the 21st century,’ he said.
Gareth Smith, Geelong’s planning, design and development director revealed this week the council was pushing to have The Deck’s beer garden shut down.
‘We have lodged an enforcement order application with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal seeking to cease the use of the outdoor beer garden and the playing of amplified music outdoors,’ Mr Smith told The Geelong Advertiser.
‘We have also been liaising with authorities such as the Environment Protection Authority and the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation.’
Since A Current Affair went to air on Thursday night, the apartment residents have received very little sympathy from viewers.
The Deck (pictured on the inside) is a heritage listed pub and will be taken to court over the noise dispute
‘So they move next to an already established business and have a big sookie la la because it’s too noisy,’ one said.
‘Now the pub may lose the beer garden which in turn will affect their business, someone’s livelihood. Entitled d heads.’
‘Simple, don’t move next to a pub, surely they did there [sic] homework before moving there,’ another wrote.
One added: ‘Pretty stupid decision on the tenants part, anyone with half a brain would know the outcome of moving in next to a pub!’
‘Pub was there first, don’t expect me to feel sorry for ya, don’t like it move,’ one said.
But among the many viewers leaping to the defence of the pub, some a handful took the residents’ side.
‘I live near a pub and have exactly the same problem except the drunks hang around until 4 or 5am and smash things after they leave the pub,’ one said.
‘When I moved in they had to close at 12 and now it’s 2am which is ridiculous in a residential area.’
The Deck’s owners and the council have previously held mediation meetings regarding the complaints.