New Year’s Eve in Sydney was always a simple affair. Dusting off that picnic rug, it was as easy as making a few salads and buying some bread rolls with a chook, putting some white wine into the cooler bag and organising the family to get to the best vantage point to watch the fireworks. What's more, it was free.

But this year, as we blink and another year whisks by, more and more councils and government agencies are turning to a “user pays” template for New Year's Eve.

Created by the state government, this seductive blueprint for councils complicates a once uncomplicated community event with shortsighted regulation and unnecessary overreach. Now, in order to gain access to the most sought after public-space vantage points, Sydneysiders must purchase tickets online for the minimum price of $40 per adult.

The ''user pays'' system was introduced in 2011 by the Office of Environment and Heritage to spots such as the Botanical Gardens and Bradleys Head on the north shore (current ticket price around $60 per adult), and local furore was immediate. Undeterred by the raucous public sentiment at the time, the concept has been ramped up and in use ever since.