Perth café's small bar bid blocked by noise regulations

Perth Now

18-05-2025

An inner Perth café owner is up in arms after their local council knocked back a bid to operate as a small bar due to noise issues, despite planning to only open until 9pm three nights a week.
The owners of La Mortazza, just 3km from the CBD in North Perth, were told their plans were 'incompatible with its setting'. The City of Vincent's rules forbid exceeding 49 decibels in the evening, and the plans, rated at a similar level to a beer garden, were at 54dB. Both levels are deemed to be moderate — or about the same level as a household refrigerator, normal speaking or light traffic.
Renowned sustainable cities expert Peter Newman said strict noise regulations were 'unreasonable and uneconomic'.
'It's part of living in a city,' he said, emphasising the City of Vincent was under pressure to increase housing density due to its close proximity to small bars, cafes and urban life — often not available in Perth's outer suburbs.
Professor Newman said that urban living requires working out how to co-exist, not have bans or blanket restrictions.
'It's unreasonable in terms of the future of that area because it's going into decline and people who want to live there are younger, and they want urban activity,' he said.
'Noise is a part of life, and it's welcomed.' Woodville Reserve and La Mortazza cafe is claimed to be 100 metres apart. Credit: Google Maps
La Mortazza director Raffaella D'Alonzo said the process had been long and challenging — but the council's decision, made this week, would be appealed.
'We are very upset,' she said. 'Any business owner wants to grow. We've outgrown the daytime service and just wanted to try.'
'We wanted to have a very small menu, only what was fresh from the season, and beer with some wine or Prosecco from Italy,'
'Nothing crazy, nothing where people get smashed, or drunk, very simple.'
La Mortazza is at the ground floor of a three-storey apartment building on busy Fitzgerald Street — just three blocks from the intersection with Angove Street. The plans were to extend trading hours until 9pm on Thursday to Saturday to become a small bar.
Vincent chief executive David MacLennan said nearby residents had been consulted but suggested the owners had included 'beer garden' in their application — a claim in dispute. Staff member Abano Perruzza and owner Raffaella D'Alonzo pictured at cafe La Mortazza in North Perth. Credit: Ian Munro / The West Australian
'As the business is approved as a small bar, we requested a noise assessment that more accurately reflects what can be reasonably expected when operating as a small bar,' he said. 'In providing this assessment, the second acoustic assessment included a reference to noise levels that were equivalent to a beer garden.'
Some locals supported the extension. Brenton Williams, who lives two doors away, said what the cafe brought to the community outweighed other issues.
'We need to remember what actually brings a community vibrancy – if you're looking for peace and quiet I'm not sure why you're living in a city, let alone North Perth,' he told Tuesday night's council meeting.
'I've experienced noise, and this is not noise.'
West Australian Music chief executive Owen Whittle said that the Environmental Protection Act (1997) requires venues to keep noise emissions low but can be sometimes vary in application by local governments.
'A lot of that will come down to the zoning rules and kind of authorities that local governments have,' he said. Outside of La Mortazza. Credit: Supplied
Mr Whittle said that sometimes venues can face challenges due to noise readings being taken outside of buildings, which may not accurately represent the noise impact inside homes.
'Noise emissions are measured from the closest wall of a residential building to the venue generally,' he said.
'That can often create a lot of difficulties for those venues, because it's not those noise readings aren't necessarily taken from inside, and they're not necessarily going to be a true representation of the kind of noise emissions or their impact on amenity,'
'They can be increased because, of course, the noise from outside of our building can be far higher than what might be in someone's living room or bedroom.'
Australian Hotel Association chief executive Bradley Woods said that small bars have become increasingly popular as they 'offer vibrant spaces that contribute to their local communities'.
'It's important to strike a balance between supporting local business growth and maintaining the amenity of surrounding residential areas,' he said.