Whanganui & Partners push to boost city’s live music capacity

Whanganui already has a host of live music venues. Photo / Bevan Conley

Economic development agency Whanganui &Partners is pushing to increase the city’s ability to host live music.

A how-to guide has been released as part of a three-pronged approach to developing music in the city.

Strategic lead for creative industries at economic development agency Whanganui & Partners, Emma Bugden, said there was always room for more venues in the city and the guide was aimed to it as easy as possible to “make that plunge”.

People needed to think about compliance before they fell in love with a building, and talking to the district council was a must.

“We want to get people at that really early stage,” Bugden said.

The guide recommends contacting the council’s building control and health teams before signing a lease or taking on a venue.

Bugden said Whanganui offered touring acts great hospitality and receptive audiences.

“A lot of the venues here started as a bar or a restaurant and began to put on gigs as a sideline.

“I guess you could spend a lot of money but you could also start small and work your way up.

“Music is such a joyful thing. It really adds to the delight of living in a city, to the vibrancy, and it brings people together.”

She said the guide followed on from a “really pragmatic and frank” workshop for Whanganui musicians run by Don McGlashan and an Amplify funding round - five lots of $4000 - for existing venues to improve their infrastructure.

“I think we have a whole lot of people moving to town whose expectation of entertainment is that it is wide, varied and multi-faceted.

“At the moment, there are bigger performance venues but also smaller places like Porridge Watson and Frank (Bar and Eatery) that are bars and restaurants as well as music venues.

“Then you’ve got the Whanganui Musicians Club, which is a community venue specifically for music.”

Whanganui District Council chief alcohol licensing inspector Steve Turfrey there was a range of things to consider if the venue wanted to serve alcohol and applicants were usually well prepared by the time they got to him.

“The Alcohol Act is very complex indeed, but it shouldn’t stop someone with a good idea and good intentions,” he said.

“The difficulty for music places is how they will manage nuisance such as noise.

“Frank, for example, is a nightclub venue that goes to 2am. They have acoustic material within the building that makes sure the sound, while loud indoors, isn’t leaking out too much.”

According to the guide, up to 65 decibels of volume is permitted in central Whanganui while in residential areas it is 55.

If venues met the necessary requirements, the Whanganui community was fairly accepting of them, he said.

“Once someone has got through those hoops and meets the criteria, they (applications) are just about always accepted.”

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.