Dear residents living around Lake Street/voters, 

Here some quick updates on the noise level/complaint case to Druk Zomsa.

The council had got back to me after several complaints from the residents. Following below are their response to the investigation. Please scroll down to have a look. The outcome is not what we hoped for and no further actions (beside talking with the owner) was taken to improve the noise levels over the weekends.

At this stage, I have dropped a ‘Letter of Concern’ today to the business owner to get them to reflect upon their actions and hopefully this will communicate better with them; and they will regulate the noise levels. Following are the summary:

• We are glad that the noise levels from Druk Zomsa was in good levels on most of the days, weekdays (Monday to Thursday). However, the noise level can still be heard on weekends (Friday and Saturday) after 11pm, mainly coming from the outdoor upper balcony level.
• The disturbing noise are from constant conversations, laughing loudly and singing made by your patrons/guests at the upper outdoor setting. This sound becomes very noticeable/audible once the night becomes quiet from midnight to 2am, which has disrupted our sleep at several times.
• As long as your food business and activities are kept indoors and not at the outside the upper balcony level, your neighbours will be kindly appreciated. Also, any singing or live-music that happens after midnight should be also avoided or further acoustic treatment/insulation should be added to help to reduce/control the noise. We do not have any issues with sounds/activities that happens from the ground level.
• We hope that the can keep a good control of the noise levels coming from the upper balcony level on the weekends or to move the crowds/activities indoors.

On a note here, I will be stopping this monitoring process in a few weeks time as I am expecting a newborn and things will be busier. This is not ideal for me as this noise disturbance definitely created lots of inconvenience; and had taken a lot of my time and effort to mange this while the Council doesn’t appreciate all the evidence that I collected and has show no signs of efforts to help the community. In future if anyone decided to follow-up on this, please do let me know and feel free to raise further noise complaints to the Council if the business doesn’t improve on their noise levels.

Thanks and Regards,
Ron

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Response from City of Perth Council, Department of Community Safety and Amenity:

1. Approved Uses and Operating Hours – Druk Zomsa, 100 Lake Street, Northbridge 

The business known as Druk Zomsa is a registered with the City of Perth as a food business under the Food Act 2008. 

The building from which the business operates was approved decades ago to be used the way it is currently. There is no requirement under the Planning and Development Act for a property owner to re-apply for an approval previously granted under planning and development legislation. In addition the Act does not enable the City to influence trading hours once a development approval is given.

Should the business seek a liquor licence this would likely place some restrictions on hours of operation. That said, these hours of operation may not align with your expectations. Liquor Licensing is a state government responsibility and you may wish to discuss options and concerns with them. Any concerns can be raised to Racing Gaming and Liquor at rgl@dlgsc.wa.gov.au.

2. Noise & Authorised Officers Powers 

The City’s Community Health Officers have authority to investigate noise complaints under the Environmental Protection (Noise) Regulations 1997. In response to noise complaints, the City’s officer took noise measurements during the period 2-8 August 2023.

Analysis showed noise levels emitted from Druk Zomsa were reasonable and did not a breach the Regulations. The main noise source observed was from people interacting, rather than from amplified music. Under the Environmental Protection (Noise) Regulations, the City does not consider people noise associated with an approved activity as unreasonable. As such the City will not take any action in relation to this noise type.

3. The Petition 

I acknowledge your petition, but, please be aware this does not provide the City with any additional authority to act on your concerns with Druk Zomsa.

4. Options 

In the absence of regulatory intervention by the City of Perth and/or other agencies you may wish to consider the following alternate options:

• Discuss with the operator of Druk Zomsa as to how you can better meet each other’s expectations
• Speak with an acoustic consultant about altering your property to better keep external noises from entering
• Seek legal advice on how to deal with the matter through civil means
• Seek review of the matter by the State Ombudsman

I understand this is not the response you would have hoped for. However, should amplified music noise become a recurring problem from the venue in future, submit an online noise complaint and the City will investigate further. Should you wish to discuss this matter further, please contact me on 9461 3383 or email environmental.health@cityofperth.wa.gov.au.