Almost half the venues invited to join the NSW government's trial of relaxed lockout laws in Newcastle have not signed up yet.
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The 12-month trial was due to begin on July 1 under an evaluation plan distributed to the committee overseeing the trial, but the start date has been revised to Friday, July 9.
Liquor & Gaming NSW invited 24 inner-city and Hamilton pubs, nightclubs and bars to take part, and a spokesperson for the agency said on Friday that 14 of the venues had accepted.
The other venues have until 5pm on Monday to join.
LGNSW declined to provide a list of the venues which have accepted the invitation.
An "evaluation plan" for the trial shows long-standing nightclubs Finnegan's Hotel, Argyle House and the King Street Hotel were invited to participate, along with 17 pubs, the under-construction QT Hotel in the Hunter Street Mall, two cocktail bars and the government-owned The Station in Scott Street.
Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello announced in March that venues in the trial would not be subject to lockouts, which stop patrons moving between premises after 1.30am.
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"Newcastle Solution" rules which limit the sale of shots and cocktails after 10pm will also be scrapped.
Mr Dominello foreshadowed in March that the trial would "set the scene" for the NSW Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority to consider a permanent end to lockouts in Newcastle on a case-by-case basis.
The invited hotels were the Kent, Exchange, Northern Star, Hamilton Station, Sydney Junction, Greenroof, Cambridge, Crown & Anchor, The Lucky, Queens Wharf Brewery, Honeysuckle Hotel, Family, Grand, Clarendon, Customs House, Great Northern and Oriental in Cooks Hill.
Two bars, Bar Petite and The Rogue Scholar, were also invited.
Inner-city Newcastle and Hamilton are the only parts of the state with lockouts still in place after the government removed them in Sydney's CBD last year and Kings Cross this year.
The evaluation plan says the committee will assess how the trial affects employment, patronage, business turnover, violence, hospital admissions, licence compliance, noise complaints and residential amenity.
Venues invited to take part in no-lockout trial
- Argyle House
- Cambridge Hotel
- Clarendon Hotel
- Crown & Anchor Hotel
- Customs House Hotel
- Family Hotel
- Grand Hotel
- Great Northern Hotel
- Hamilton Station Hotel
- Honeysuckle Hotel
- Kent Hotel
- King Street Hotel
- Finnegan's Hotel
- Northern Star Hotel
- Oriental Hotel
- QT Hotel East End
- Queens Wharf Brewery
- Sydney Junction Hotel
- The Exchange Hotel
- The Greenroof
- The Lucky Hotel
- Bar Petite
- The Rogue Scholar
- The Station