Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for Australia’s music scene, another much loved Sydney venue is coming under fire from angry neighbours looking to change its operations to suit themselves. At this point we could easily play a guessing game, naming a number of different locations around Sydney where none of this action would come as any surprise, but we might be going for a while. While it might sound like a joke, believe us when we say it’s not, this venue is…

…The Opera House.

No, this isn’t some deliciously ironic story which you might expect out of somewhere like The Betoota Advocate – sadly this is real life.

Owners of some of Australia’s most prime real-estate, the rich residents of Bennelong apartment complex “the Toaster” have gone one step short of telling kids to get off their lawn, throwing a bunch of complaints about the running of the Opera House into a guide they’ve called The Trashing of the Opera House. It’s already making the rounds to “various government agencies, including the Premier’s office, UNESCO and the Heritage Council”, as well as Opera House management, Liquor & Gaming NSW, and the police in the hope their complaints will be heard.

These complaints by the residents, also called the Sydney Opera House Concerned Citizens Group, essentially go like this:

• An issue with open air concerts, which they believe have “harsh visual impact” on the national icon that robs tourists of the chance to see it “as it was intended”.

• “Ugliness” and “lack of access” to the building, which comes about from use of shipping containers and construction of tall lights for outside areas. This one comes from the one and only Alan Jones too, an inhabitant of the Toaster – “It’s like a bomb site, and this goes on for 120 days a year. Go down there, it’s an eyesore” (via Music Feeds).

• Sound – resident Cory Cooney via Music Feeds – “I completely object to extending hours of concerts on our doorstep and increasing the hours of bumping in and bumping out. It is not only the concert itself, it’s the post-event noise of patrons leaving the premises drunk and disorderly, late at night, which ­affects our sleep and wellbeing as residents. Such noise and disruption is evident even with doors and blinds closed, furthermore affecting my basic sleep and that of my family. My family and I have the right to relax in our own home without having trucks and concert operations causing disturbance into the early hours of the morning.”

They’ve also got issues with the Opera House management, who they claim have built a “culture of lies, denials and cover-ups”, referencing the Opera Bar expansion and renovations to the building which they believe are in breach of existing licensing.

Is nowhere safe? The Opera House provides something for everyone. Whether it’s opera, theatre, classical or new age music, it is the Australian venue. This sad news just further cements the fact that Australia has a serious problem with culture. While these complaints do seem to be completely unfounded, and obviously in the interest of the residents own selfish wishes and not of the public, we’re not out of the woods yet.

Fingers crossed this case doesn’t suddenly just grow legs to stand on.