Hamilton's Sydney Junction Hotel has become the first venue to apply to permanently remove lockout laws after liquor authorities announced an end to the "Newcastle Solution" licensing restrictions last week.
The hotel has applied to the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority to lift a host of restrictions, including 1am customer lockouts, limits on serving shots and cocktails and requirements for late-night supervisors and security patrols.
SJs was one of 21 venues which participated in a trial of relaxed licensing conditions in Newcastle from October 2021 to October 2022.
ILGA published the findings of an evaluation report into the trial last week and opened up applications from participating venues to have the Newcastle Solution restrictions lifted.
The report found the number of on-premises assaults and incidents of affray had risen 65 per cent at participating pubs and clubs during the trial but attributed the bulk of these offences to a handful of larger venues, which it did not name.
The Sydney Junction topped Liquor & Gaming NSW's list of most violent venues in NSW in May 2018 with 25 violent incidents in the previous 12 months.
The hotel recorded 16 violent incidents in the year to November 18, dropping from a level-one violence category to level two under LGNSW's rating system.
The pub dropped out of the list altogether in November 2019, the last time LGNSW published its violent venues ratings before switching to a new licensing demerit scheme.
The Sydney Junction's application to revoke some of its licensing rules says the restrictions are "either historic or were imposed as a result of the previous owner's business operation involving a nightclub".
"Since changing ownership and undergoing extensive renovations, the premises no longer has a nightclub component," it says.
Prominent hotel and real estate development company Iris Capital bought the Sydney Junction in 2018.
ILGA has imposed the special Newcastle Solution conditions across pub and club licences in central Newcastle and Hamilton for 15 years.
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