Parramatta. Council breaches rule

Parramatta City Council has been warned to stop requiring new entertainment venues to apply for Place Of Public Entertainment (POPE) permits, which the government did away with from October 2007, Council, by applying an out-of-date live music regulation, was one of 27 local government authorities which had breached the rule. The removal of the rule could potentially save venues hundreds of thousands of dollars in building changes that they would otherwise have to make, the Department of Planning said.