Night Time Economy Study and Action Plan

Women with glasses of wine at bar

Ryde After 5 

With the prediction of a population increase in the region of 35% over the next 20 years and the boom in inner city apartment living comes the need to create vibrant ‘after 5’ town centres as part of a healthy night time economy for the City of Ryde.

Particularly in Macquarie Park where there are high numbers of workers seeking a place to socialise locally after work. A vibrant ‘after 5’ scene will offer more than ‘shopping’ and enhance economic growth, community and cultural cohesion as well as job and wealth creation.

Council has undertaken a Night Time Economy (NTE) Study to ensure the right balance between vibrancy, safety and quality of life is achieved.  

Council consulted with more than 700 individuals and groups includes residents, workers, business operators, Chambers of Commerce and community services to create a consensus driven action plan. 

Outcomes

Outcomes that the NTE Study could deliver The main outcomes from the NTE Study were to:

  • Make night time places and activities more family friendly 
  • Improve lighting and way-finding and install more creative/colourful lighting throughout town centres. Find out more about Ryde Lights.
  • Encourage small wine bars rather than large pubs 
  • Explore extended retail and dining hours 
  • Encourage restaurants and activities located outside of shopping centres to activate the streetscape 
  • Provide more cultural/community events/festivals/popups.

86% of those surveyed indicated that they had no concerns about making the City of Ryde more vibrant, activated and accessible at night.  Between 64% and 84% thought that each of the town centres could be more activated at night.

View the Document

Next step

The City of Ryde Night Time Economy Action Plan(PDF, 75KB) was developed to respond to these findings.

The City Activation team is undertaking projects that have been identified in the Action Plan including the coordination of the City of Ryde Food Truck Trial.

Further to this initiative, the City Activation team has sought funding through the Four Year Delivery Plan to implement a creative lighting project (Night Time Economy Implementation Stage 1) which will support and facilitate a NTE in response to the recommendations coming out of the NTE Study.

Council will also continue to work with developers to encourage the delivery of appropriate mixed-use developments and to deliver upgrades to the public domain.