The campaign aims to find solutions for street safety without lockout laws while maintaining social and economic activity and cultural vibrancy. Suggested remedies include more visible policing on streets rather than in venues, staggered closing times, a large scale anti-violence campaign, a clamp-down on "dodgy operators" rather than well-run venues, increased cultural diversity of venues, extended dining hours and street marshalls. Hugos owner Dave Evans and staff of Hugos in Kings Cross picket after closing in August. The restaurateur blamed the closure on the impact of lockout laws. Credit:Nick Moir Some 2500 people have joined Keep Sydney Open in the last 24 hours and, after a planned amalgamation with campaign group Save Our Nightlife, the group will number 31,000. "It feels like a groundswell, I think people have started to witness the damage that has been done to Sydney with their own eyes. We're starting to have a more balanced debate about the lockouts, more people are voicing their concerns. I think it's encouraging to see, I think Sydney will only be a better place for it," said Mr Koh. A backlash against the lockout laws was precipitated in part by news of a restaurant in Paddington being reined in by the police over its "unsavoury" wine list and the reactions of thousands of people who shared businessman Matt Barrie's essay Would the Last Person in Sydney Please Turn the Lights Out.

Mr Barrie, the chief executive of Freelancer.com, has since created an online fundraising page entitled "Let's send Mike Baird a '59 Grange!" to "thank" the NSW Premier for the lockout laws. $1,400 was donated to the cause in just 40 minutes. Keep Sydney Open's Tyson Koh aims to find vibrant and culturally sympathetic solutions for street safety without lockout laws. Credit:Ben Rushton Hospital and crime figures show marked improvements since the lockout laws began. Yet scores of bars, retail and food venues have closed since the changes, including major live music venues Hugos, Goodgod Small Club and the Flinders Hotel. Keep Sydney Open has celebrity backing in the form of singer Tina Arena, comedians the Bondi Hipsters and Maurice Terzini, owner of Bondi's Icebergs and Da Orazio restaurants. Mr Terzini donated proceeds from Icebergs' New Year's Day party raffle to the movement. Singer Tina Arena backs the campaign to Keep Sydney Open. Credit:Keep Sydney Open

Unlock Sydney, a group of more than 80 music industry supporters including lawyers, promoters and business owners, is ready to fight for Sydney's night time economy and culture, said co-convenor Jahnine Skaif. "There have always been murmurs among various communities and groups, but it is finally getting to the point where we have an open channel of communication, through Unlock Sydney, co-ordinating efforts and actions," said Ms Skaif, who works in insurance. "I do believe it will net a result. We are in a position to aid rallies, research and facilitate awareness to the people about to take on this fight. People are frustrated and feel like nothing is happening, or change is not possible, but it is. The voting public are also becoming quite disenchanted. It isn't just rallies and lefty students – it will be political." She said that members were confounded by head of St Vincent's Hospital emergency department Professor Gordian Fulde's suggestion of Star casino – which holds a 24-hour liquor licence and falls outside lockout zones – as a viable after-hours venue. "Our autonomy is being stolen and it's not about youth and nightclubs, an entire economy of trade post-6pm is being killed and along with it, artistic and cultural endeavours in NSW," she said.

Premier Mike Baird wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday morning that alcohol related assaults had decreased by 42.2 per cent in the CBD since the lockout laws. "And they're down by over 60 per cent in Kings Cross," he added in the post, which outlined what he claims to be a "growing hysteria this week about nightlife in Sydney". The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education remains committed to its view that the regulations have had a positive effect on Sydney. "What the government did delivered what we forecast it to do, and that is reduce assaults, reduce emergency admissions and reduce hospitalisations," said chief executive Michael Thorn. He cited figures showing a 32 per cent reduction in non-domestic assaults in Kings Cross and 26 per cent reduction in non-domestic assaults in Sydney's CBD in the first six months after lockout laws came into force. NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research figures for the first 12 months are expected within weeks.

Mr Thorn said there was no evidence that violence had been displaced to areas outside the lockout zone, such as Newtown, and that St Vincent's Hospital recorded a 25 per cent reduction in seriously injured patients over high alcohol periods. "Oft-forgotten in all of this are the people who live in Kings Cross and all those areas," he added. "They spoke about how the area has been transformed. It's had a positive impact on the residential side of the suburb and adjacent suburbs. People found it an attractive investment proposition."