source : the age
A plan by one of Sydney’s best-known waterfront venues to loosen its liquor restrictions has been sunk by the state’s licensing regulator after a wave of community opposition over noise, alcohol-related harm and impacts on wildlife.
The NSW Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority has refused an application by The Boathouse at Shelly Beach in Manly for a primary service authorisation – a licensing change that would have allowed patrons to buy alcohol without also being legally required to order a full meal.
The Boathouse Group, in its application to ILGA, said the change would have allowed patrons greater flexibility to meet friends, drop in after work or take in the ocean views over a drink.
The venue said the change was also in line with the NSW government’s recently enacted “vibrancy reforms”, designed to remove unnecessary licensing restrictions and red tape facing the hospitality industry.
But the proposal sparked intense opposition from locals and environmental advocates, with ILGA receiving 114 formal objections during the public consultation process.
Opponents raised concerns about potential late-night antisocial behaviour, “binge-drinking”, traffic congestion, noise disturbances affecting nearby homes and impacts on nearby nesting grounds for native birdlife.
The National Parks Association of NSW also lodged a formal objection due potential impacts on the venue’s “sensitive coastal and environmental setting”.
The public pushback prompted Boathouse Group chief executive Antony Jones to write directly to residents during the assessment process, insisting the proposal was not designed to turn the restaurant into a “nightclub” and would have involved maintaining the venue’s existing trading hours, which run to midnight from Monday to Saturday and 10pm on Sundays.
A Boathouse spokesman claimed opposition had been fuelled by a campaign led by resident group Marine Parade Action Alliance, which the company said had portrayed the application as an attempt to extend trading hours and turn the venue into a late-night drinking destination.
“Neither was true,” the spokesman said.
But Marine Parade Action Alliance co-founder Julie Meldrum said the group had heard from hundreds of residents concerned about the potential effects on the environment, community safety and neighbourhood amenity.
“By not providing food with drinks, it increases the risk of intoxication and antisocial behaviour in an area very close to people’s homes,” she said.
“Shelly Beach is a natural wide open area which means noise would have been amplified and the impact on the environment would have been extraordinary.
“It’s also a no-alcohol zone, so it’s quite extraordinary that it was even being considered in the first place.”
In refusing the application, ILGA chair Caroline Lamb noted the proposal had generated a “significant number” of objections and concluded it risked causing “detriment to the local community”.
Lamb also cited higher-than-average rates of alcohol-related assaults across Manly, as well as the concentration of licensed venues in the area.
“On balance, (ILGA is) not satisfied that the proposal is in the public interest,” she wrote.
The Boathouse Group said it was disappointed by the decision, noting that neither NSW Police nor Northern Beaches Council had objected to the application.
“What we were seeking was an authorisation appropriate to a quality food-led venue in a relatively secluded location – not to add to the concentration of late-night drinking establishments,” the spokesman said.
The company also challenged ILGA’s reliance on suburb-wide crime statistics, arguing the venue had not been subject to any liquor enforcement action during the last five years and was not located in a crime hotspot.
The Boathouse Group is now considering whether to seek a review of the decision under NSW liquor licensing laws.
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David Barwell is an urban affairs reporter for The Sydney Morning HeraldConnect via email.
