A dispute has broken out between two popular Lonsdale Street venues, with a restaurant claiming excessive noise from the bar next door is disturbing its patrons and staff.
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Tipsy Bull restaurant wants Hopscotch Bar to dramatically reduce noise at the nightspot, which it said had been recorded at almost double the level permitted in the area.
But the bar said it has taken reasonable steps to keep noise down, and has questioned the basis of its neighbour's allegations.
On Wednesday, the two Braddon businesses are scheduled to appear in an ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal conference in an attempt to mediate their grievances, which date back almost three and a half years.
Hopscotch Bar started trading at unit 1/5 Lonsdale Street in April 2014. Tipsy Bull's predecessor, Schnitzel House Braddon, opened next door in June 2015.
Schnitzel House Braddon went into liquidation in June 2017, reopening soon after as Tipsy Bull.
A legal letter filed to the tribunal on behalf of Tipsy Bull manager Joe Beltrame said that since June 2015, there had been "multiple occasions" where noise from Hopscotch Bar had been recorded "well above" permitted levels.
The letter, obtained by The Canberra Times, stated that on each of those occasions, restaurant staff had asked Hopscotch to lower noise levels, but the requests had been"disregarded".
The restaurant commissioned an independent noise assessment, which said "excessive" noise from Hopscotch "significantly affects the day-to-day operations at Tipsy Bull".
The testing, conducted by acoustic consultant GUZ Box design + studio, found noise was typically greater than 80 decibels and reached a maximum of almost 100 decibels, the equivalent of the sound of a jet plane taking off.
The "excessive" noise, which was recorded every night of the week during the two-week testing period, was such that staff had difficulty communicating with patrons and fellow workers, according to the report, which was filed to the tribunal.
A daytime noise limit of 55 decibels and night-time maximum of 45 decibels are allowed in the area, according to ACT Environmental Protection Authority guidelines referenced in the report.
The restaurant has asked the tribunal to order the bar to limit noise to the allowable levels, remove speakers placed on the common wall and install acoustic barriers on its premises.
In a document filed with the tribunal, obtained by The Canberra Times, Hopscotch Bar co-owner Kate Parkinson said the only noise complaints it had received since opening had been from Mr Beltrame.
Ms Parkinson said in the document that the Environmental Protection Authority and ACT Liquor and Gaming had already considered the complaints and taken no action.
She said the bar was "very mindful of its neighbours", and had spent more than $20,000 to upgrade its sound system to allow it to better adjust music volume, as well installing signs advising patrons to limit noise as they entered and exited the premise.
But in the document Ms Parkinson also questioned the validity of Tipsy Bull's noise testing , claiming the results carried "no weight" because the contractor, GUZ Box design + studio's Tim Kuschel, was not properly qualified.
The document claimed Mr Kuschel was "not a qualified acoustic engineer", pointing to his Australian Acoustical Society profile which listed his "self-described" areas of expertise as environmental noise and architectural and building acoustics.
Mr Kuschel did not want to comment when contacted by The Canberra Times.
Mr Beltrame also declined to comment.
Ms Parkinson and Access Canberra - which oversees the ACT Environmental Protection Authority and ACT Liquor and Gaming - did not respond to inquiries before deadline.
