The Manly commercial centre is an ideal location for a Special Entertainment Precinct given its unique local character and culture, accessibility, visitor infrastructure and history as an iconic destination and established night-time precinct.
During consultation on the Manly Place Plan, you told us that Manly’s nightlife needs a broader variety of activities, entertainment, events, shops, restaurants, bars and cultural experiences for people of all ages.
To build on this sentiment and to deliver on actions endorsed in the Manly Place Plan, Northern Beaches Council in February 2025, resolved to seek grant funding from the NSW Government to commission acoustic studies to inform the establishment of a SEP trial for the Manly commercial centre. If the grant application is successful, the trial will start in mid-2026.
Reviewing feedback - An important step in securing a grant under the NSW Government’s SEP grant program is to consult with the community and businesses on the proposed boundary of the SEP. Your input will help shape the proposed boundary for an 18-month SEP trial in Manly.
Comments closed on Friday 11 April.
Manly is the gateway to the Northern Beaches. With its unique culture and history, it provides a welcoming home for residents, a vital place for workers and embraces day and other short-term visitors drawn to this special place.
27% of all jobs in Manly are related to the 24-hour economy, and a Special Entertainment Precinct will drive spending in late-night venues, retail stores, and local businesses, stimulating economic growth.
The proposed SEP is restricted to blocks where existing licensed venues are concentrated and avoids coverage of predominantly residential properties.
If your property is shaded pink on the map below, that means it has been identified for inclusion within the SEP boundaries.
Special Entertainment Precinct features
Currently, businesses that want to extend their trading hours beyond what is allowed in the conditions of their liquor licenses and development consents must seek planning approval.
In a SEP, Council sets the maximum permitted trading hours and sound from venues with live music in a precinct management plan, making it easier and reducing costs for licensed and unlicensed business, such as bookshops and cafés, to trade late without the need for new development approvals. SEPs encourage businesses to provide live music and performance, make it easier and reduce costs for licensed and unlicensed business, such as bookshops and café, to trade late without the need for new development approvals, and allow Council to set sound criteria to suit the context of the area and encourage live music and performance.
We will work with the community, local businesses and police to determine what maximum trading hours will support vibrancy whilst balancing local amenity.
To encourage live music and performances, the Liquor Act 2007 will allow eligible licensed venues in SEPs an additional hour of trading every night of the week, if they host at least 45 minutes of live performance after 8pm on at least 2 nights of any 7-day period.
Dedicated live music and performance venues will be allowed an additional 2 hours of trading on any night that they host a live performance after 8pm for more than 45 minutes.
The grant will allow us to undertake an acoustic study and develop new, tailored controls to manage entertainment sound in the Manly commercial centre.
The approach to developing sound controls for the SEP will be informed by acoustic testing throughout the precinct, existing sound limits and feedback from businesses and the community, with guidance from the NSW Government’s SEP Acoustic Toolkit.
Entertainment sound in a SEP includes:
It does not include any sound associated with other activities such as equipment, servicing, construction, waste disposal and collection, or mechanical ventilation.
We are required to identify the boundary of a SEP in the Manly Local Environmental Plan (LEP) 2013 and prepare a Precinct Management Plan which will set out the new trading hours and sound controls.
Councils must outline compliance procedures in a Precinct Management Plan. This means that there will be clear guidance on what to do and who to contact in the event that a venue is exceeding the SEP’s sound thresholds and trading hours.
We will undertake an operational trial of the maximum trading hours and sound controls outlined in the Precinct Management Plan over 18 months. After 12 months of the trial, we will go back to the community to evaluate the impacts of the trial and seek a Council resolution on whether the SEP should be implemented permanently or revoked.
State funding of $50,000 to $200,000 through the SEP Kickstart Grant is available for activities related to establishing a SEP, including a consultant-prepared acoustic study and community engagement requirements.
The SEP Kickstart Grant also provides an opportunity for us to implement actions tested and supported in the Manly Place Plan including:
We will be developing new maximum trading hours to support vibrancy for businesses within the precinct boundaries - including licensed and unlicensed venues.
Specific incentives for licensed venues with live entertainment within a SEP include an 80% reduction of liquor licence fees, and additional trading hours.
See how the night-time economy strategy supports our vision for a revitalised Manly.
| Name | Strategic & Place Planning Team |
|---|---|
| Phone | 1300 434 434 (during business hours) or 131 450 (for translation services) |
| council@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au | |
| In writing | marked 'Manly Special Entertainment Precinct', Northern Beaches Council, PO Box 82, Manly NSW 1655. |
*The comments count is manually updated and only indicative until the final report is published. It reflects the total online contributions received only. Duplicate contributions will be counted as one unique contribution.
**All comments in their entirety are made publicly available in the Community Engagement Report. Personal identifying information, and content which is discriminatory, hateful or which may defame, offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate will be redacted.
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