Documents: Kings Cross, a visual comparison 2007 and 2013

Visual Comparison of Kings Cross presented for  NSW/ACT Alcohol Policy Alliance (NAAPA) Summit on 14 March 2013 at NSW Parliament House, Sydney.

NAAPA is an alliance of thirty-one health, community, law enforcement, emergency services and research organisations working to promote evidence-based actions to prevent alcohol-related harms in NSW and the ACT. The Summit reviewed solutions to prevent the explosion of alcohol-related harms in NSW. It reviewed the failure to reduce alcohol-related harms ten years on from the NSW 2003 Alcohol Summit, also at Parliament House.

NAAPA says the system that is supposed to protect communities from harms is failing and placing an unacceptable burden on residents and overstretched hospital and police services. Alcohol is a complex issue, but importantly this is not a problem without solutions. The deregulation of hours and regulation by the Liquor Act 2007 and the City Council’s Late Night Trading Development Control plan enabled an explosion of use and licence approvals (as you can see). It means that diverse, fine-grained predominantly artist and artisanal districts like Kings Cross have morphed into single-minded monocultures, driving up rents and pushing out traditional businesses serving residents. Great for speculators and the alcohol industry. Mind-numbingly dull, suburban and dangerous.