Here's what happening at the moment. Have a look just to keep yourself informed, or consider getting involved in what's important to you.

Recycle Your Ewaste For Free - Sunday 1st March

The City is holding a free e-waste recycling collection day for residents on Sunday 1 March, from 9.00am - 3.00pm. E-waste is electronic waste, which if not recycled or disposed of properly, can be hazardous. During the last collection day residents recycled over nine tonnes of e-waste and prevented up to 45 tonnes of carbon emissions being released into the atmosphere. By recycling your e-waste you can help save energy and natural resources.

Take your old computers, monitors, TVs, cameras, faxes, scanners, printers, mobiles, video recorders, CDs, DVDs and more, to Epsom Road Depot, 94-104 Epsom Road, Zetland. Collections are held quarterly, with ID and proof of address required. Visit here for information or call 9265 9333.

Update: DA D/2008/1919 for the ground floor below the former DCM/UN premises at 31-33 Oxford Street - REFUSED

The application was determined under delegation of Council and was refused consent on 16th December 2008.

You can read the reasons given for refusal here, and the planner's assessment report here. 

The application proposed to change the ground floor retail space, currently Oxford Variety, to a licensed lounge bar for 85 people – as part of a broader redevelopment project also involving the upstairs nightclub.

Proposed hours of operation were 11.00 am to 3.00 am Sundays to Thursdays, and 11.00 am to 5.00 am Fridays, Saturdays and any night preceding a public holiday.

The front of the site was to consist of a bar area with a capacity of 65 people, and a separate smokers’ lounge with a capacity of 20 people.

It was also proposed that the bar would ultimately be linked to the nightclub on Level 1 above, with the construction of a new internal staircase linking the two premises.

NOTE: The earlier application (D/2008/1590) to increase the operating hours of the nightclub was refused by Council on 22nd October 2008.

Update: DA D/2008/1873, 117-123 Oxford Street & 125 Oxford Street – Columbian Hotel – submissions closed 27th November 2008

This application proposes alterations to the Columbian Hotel and extension of the hotel into the adjoining premises at 125 Oxford Street. The proposed works will increase the maximum number of patrons of the hotel by 60 people to 346. It is proposed to operate the additional area 24 hours, 7 days and use it as a Place of Public Entertainment.

We'll post updates here as they come to hand.

Update: DA D/2008/1694 – The Exchange Hotel – Courtyard Smoking Area – APPROVED

This application to use an 11sqm outdoor courtyard on the north-eastern side of the ground floor as a smoking room was granted consent as from 7 November 2008. The consent is subject to a number of conditions which include:

• A maximum number of 8 patrons are permitted to use the smoking courtyard at any one time.
• There is to be no consumption of beverages (alcoholic or otherwise) AT ANY TIME within the smoking courtyard.
• Hours of operation between 10am and 1am, 7 days a week, for a trial period of 12 months.

You can read the full list of conditions here

Update: DA D/2008/1590 for former UN/DCM premises - REFUSED

The application was determined under delegation of Council and was refused consent on 22nd October 2008.

You can read the reasons given for refusal here, and the planner's assessment report here.

Update: DA D/2006/645/B – Oxford Art Factory - submissions closed Friday 17 October

The Oxford Art Factory isn’t just a nightclub. It encompasses a gallery space, a bar and a live performance space.

This application seeks to modify two of the conditions of consent and add an additional condition, to:

• continue extended trading until 6.00 am, 7 days a week, on a 2 year trial basis; and
• change the requirement of having 3 different forms of entertainment each night the premises is open past 9.00 pm to having 2 different forms of entertainment; and
• restrict access to the premises between the hours of 8.00 pm and 6.00 am to patrons over 18 years of age (new condition).

We'll post updates here as they come to hand.

Update:  UN/DCM closes its doors

Following the Land & Environment Court decision handed down on 12th August, that refused to grant it another trial period for extended hours, UN/DCM has closed its nightclub at 31-33 Oxford Street.

Update: Council refuses The Gaff's DA - again

The Gaff nightclub and bar at Oxford Square was seeking to expand its ground floor and increase capacity by over 60%.

The application was refused under delegation of Council on 5th March 2008.

That decision was upheld by the City of Sydney’s Small Permits Appeals Panel on 8th August 2008 i.e. the DA has been refused.

Our community voiced its objections to this proposal loudly - with dozens of personal submissions,  75 responses to the online petition (with most people also adding their own comments), and 12 people speaking at the Small Permits Appeals Panel.