Stockton Bowling Club fighting for the right to party with live music

The club launched a GoFundMe donation page on Tuesday in a bid to raise the $115,000 required to fund a development application submission to the City of Newcastle for live music and to upgrade the facilities to make the club compliant.

For over a decade Stockton Bowling Club has held regular Sunday afternoon music outside, drawing crowds of between 50 to 100 people.

The club's popular WoodStockton and Rockin' The Green music festivals attract around 1000 people. The next Rockin' The Green is scheduled for March 23.

However, in November the club was told by council to cease outdoor live music following a noise complaint from a Stockton resident.

Council have since allowed live music to continue on the proviso that a DA is submitted to upgrade the club's facilities.

"If we don't get the DA through and keep the music going we'll be lucky if the club's here," Ms Aria said. "It's crucial [live music]."

The club boasts more than 1300 social members and 150 bowls members, and Ms Aria said live music was vital to their bottom line.

"The issue we have is Stockton has two clubs and three pubs, so there's a lot of competition in Stockton," she said.

As of Thursday afternoon the club's GoFundMe site had raised $760 from 10 donations.

"Any help we can get is greatly appreciated," Ms Aria said. "If we get up to $115,000, we'll make sure it's all spent on upgrading and ensuring live music stays in Stockton.

"If we don't make it to that amount we'll spend what we need and get stuff done and then we'll have to work out ways to get the rest."

Stockton Bowling Club proposes to build a new facility for live music with improved acoustics that will direct music away from homes and towards the ocean.

A City of Newcastle (CN) spokesperson said the council were supportive of live music and were providing guidance to Stockton Bowling Club during the DA process.

"CN and Stockton Bowling Club representatives met in December and it was agreed that live music could continue whilst a Development Application was prepared for submission in early 2024," the spokesperson said.

"Stockton Bowling Club is currently preparing the information required for the development application and we look forward to considering this, as we have done for many other bowling clubs over the past few years."

Stockton is not the first Newcastle bowling club to have its live music offering threatened by noise complaints and compliance.

Adamstown Bowling Club was forced in 2022 to shut down amplified live music on its greens following noise complaints from a neighbour.

In January the Liquor and Gaming NSW chose not to impose any further licensing conditions on Adamstown Bowling Club following its investigation into resident complaints about noise and behaviour.