July 15, 2026 — 3:00pmDozens of punk teenagers rallied on the main strip of Campbelltown on Tuesday afternoon, holding up spray-painted placards and chanting passionately into megaphones, on a mission to save a beloved band venue.The teens and members of the community group Revolutionary Organisation of Students and Youth, known as ROSY, marched down to the council building in a bid to stop the demolition of Hurley Park Community Hall, where they have been hosting local music gigs.The group assembled outside the council building. Wolter Peeters“Save Hurley Park!” they chanted over the hour-long rally. “We want gigs back!”ROSY’s secretary, 19-year-old Ozzy Kemp, said the organisation was predominantly made up of youth ranging from 12 to 20 in age. With not much to do in the area, Kemp said youth often turned to drugs and alcohol.But ROSY and the alternative, cheap, alcohol-free gigs they host at Hurley had given them a space to escape that and make a community.“In Campbelltown, there are a lot of issues for the youth,” Kemp said. “There’s a lot of homelessness, drugs, especially substance abuse … we’ve actually had someone who was addicted to drinking and had attended one of our gigs and became friends with us.The hall has been used for local band gigs and the group is keen to keep them happening. Wolter Peeters“By the next gig, she and her parents actually came … and said that she actually went to rehab because she had such a positive impact from talking to us … our gigs are a very big space for people just to come and be themselves, socialise and meet some people.”Since June last year, ROSY has organised six all-ages punk and hardcore gigs at Hurley Park Community Hall.However, the decision to demolish the lot, replace it with a footpath and construct a new community centre elsewhere in the park was made before ROSY began using the building for gigs, Campbelltown City Council said.One of the protesters in Campbelltown this week.Wolter Peeters“As part of council’s asset management strategy and ongoing condition monitoring program, Hurley Park Hall was identified as being at the end of its useful life and was subsequently successful in securing grant funding for redevelopment,” a council spokesperson said in a statement.“The existing building requires substantial renewal to address its condition and ensure it can continue to serve the community safely, effectively and sustainably into the future … We recently became aware that a local group has hired the facility on a number of occasions since June 2025. The redevelopment project was identified, funded and approved prior to this time.”Hurley Park Community Hall was slated for redevelopment before the group began using the venue, the council says. Wolter PeetersKemp said ROSY members have collated more than 600 signatures for a petition opposed to the demolition, including locals as well as those outside the area.ROSY member Felix El’Jamal who delivered a speech at the rally, said the building was not just a dingy structure.“Everyone who has come to a Hurley gig, everyone who has been involved in ROSY, has made friends, has made connections, has realised the actual impact ROSY and Hurley Park specifically have had,” they said.“Hurley Park is not just a building; it is so much more than that, and that’s what the council doesn’t understand. They don’t understand the people. They don’t understand what this place truly needs, and what this place needs is a space for the youth, for everyone of all ages, no matter what class, no matter what background, from everywhere to go and express themselves.Kayla Olaya is a culture reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.From our partners