Draft for Steven’s approval: Licensed Premises was an unpublished draft on the old site with no real text. This draft is built from Steven’s About page, legal decisions and early publications. Please review, and decide whether to publish it.
Licensed Premises & Venues
Hotels, clubs, live music venues and festivals bring life to a community — and noise complaints when the acoustics are not right. We help venues, councils and residents find a measured solution.
Experience
Steven Cooper has assessed licensed premises since the early 1980s, from suburban hotels to Australia’s largest music festival. He has lectured on licensed premises noise to the NSW Police Noise Familiarisation Course and various NSW Police Licensing Commands, and presented to liquor accords, planning seminars and community groups.
His early research on sound levels in entertainment venues — including Is Exposure to High Levels of ‘Rock’ Music a Major Health Hazard to Patrons and Staff (10th International Congress on Acoustics, 1980) and Noise Effects on Staff in Entertainment Venues (Australian Live Theatre Council, 1983) — helped shape how venue noise is assessed.
Services
- Noise impact assessments for development applications and extended trading hours
- Compliance testing against licence and consent conditions
- Acoustic design of venues, sound limiters and noise management plans
- Investigation of complaints and neighbourhood disputes
- Expert evidence before the Land and Environment Court and licensing authorities
Measurement-based outcomes
Land and Environment Court decisions concerning the Dolphin Hotel (2007), the Sugarmill Hotel (2011) and the Petersham Inn (2017) highlight the importance of assessing licensed premises by physical measurement rather than theory alone.
Need an independent acoustic assessment or expert opinion?
Talk to Steven Cooper about your project, dispute or compliance question.