Christchurch on brink of having NZ’s most progressive night-life rules - but some venues could be left behind

Tuesday, 12 May 2026

Christchurch is on the brink of having the country’s most progressive rules on night life, but a city councillor says revisions to a noise limit plan could leave some venues at risk.

The city council will decide on Wednesday whether to progress plans to set noise limits in the core of the central city at least on par with those in Auckland and Wellington, lifting 45 decibel limits to at least 60dB.

But Christchurch is set to go a step further, by permitting most venues to be as loud as 65dB. However, despite popular feedback during public consultation, council staff now recommend capping a key block of venues on St Asaph St, west of Manchester St, at 60dB.

Cr Andrei Moore says the revision unfairly leaves places like nightclub Hide and music venue A Rolling Stone less protected from complaints compared with other venues, and wants the plan to go back to its previous form, with the exception of the Victoria St block which he accepted residents strongly opposed.

He is concerned with staff tightening the category one – or 65dB limit – area around existing venues, leaving little room for growth and risking complaints coming from just next door.

In one case, a single section of land between live music venue Darkroom on St Asaph St and the old 12 Bar is earmarked for category two, with a lower 60dB limit, despite being wedged between category one venues.

Moore said it risked a developer converting the land to housing without the sound insulation and ventilation standards required at category one, which in turn protected future residents from unacceptable volumes.

“These are precincts right beside a $683 million stadium… For us not to safeguard those types of precincts and investments [venues] … would just be insanity,” he said.

The stadium has its own noise limit rules, protecting it from complaints during major events.

Some 87% of respondents had supported the more permissive version of the noise limit plan change, Moore said.

Although category two would grant venues the same noise limits as venues in other cities, Moore said Christchurch had a case study in Dux Central proving how 60dB might not go far enough.

In 2022, after a wealthy businessman moved near the venue and complained about noise limit breaches, the Dux was threatened with court action and stopped hosting gigs late at night.

Moore said with the new stadium right next door, venues like the Dux should be able to take advantage of the waves of customers leaving major events.

Hide co-owner Mitchell Ryder said his well-soundproofed venue had not been subject to any noise complaints, but he operated in a venue-dense area that needed to be future-proofed.

“It’s more for future people that it will affect, like when my daughter one day grows up. I don’t want her to live in a city where it’s impossible for people to get venues up and running because they’re so restricted by noise,” he said.

Ryder, who also works in property, said it was “incredibly difficult” to make businesses profitable when factoring in overheads like rent. Venues sitting in less-permissible noise areas could face expensive soundproofing upgrades that could push them out of the central city.

“If you want the vibrancy, and the fun, and the young people, and the future of the city, you need to support that vibrancy. A lot of that comes from the performing arts and music and late night entertainment. Otherwise, it’s just another boring old city,” he said.

He said the difference between 60dB and 65dB was significant, even if it did not look like much on paper, but the greater volume was still in the range of a normal conversation. He said anyone could download a decibel reader on their phone and test for themselves.

Gretchen Kane, owner of A Rolling Stone, said: “It only takes one complaint … and that puts your licence at risk.”

She said venues were “operating on a knife-edge” and while her venue had not yet had a noise complaint, as more homes were built in the area new problems could emerge.

“We consider ourselves to be less of a bar and more of an actual music venue, and we’re providing so many different types of music services to different parts of the community,” she said.

“I think people who move into the central city should expect a certain level of noise. That’s part of the vibrancy of living in the city.”

Taylor MacGregor, of Independent Music Venues Aotearoa, said the council ought to feel proud about the work it had done so far, but the revisions were a mistake.

He said the policy needed to get things right to avoid problems in the future exactly like the ones the city had, where a lack of future planning put residents at odds with important venues.

By increasing all venues in the central city to a 65dB limit, he said, there would be much less room for confusion when the rules were applied or when new residents moved in nearby.