Publicans unite to save pubs from developers
Publicans in Balmain and Rozelle have teamed up in the wake of pub sales sweeping through the area.
They are concerned that the pubs are being turned into something else.
One historic pub — the heritage listed Exchange Hotel in Balmain which has been open since the late 1800s — is being leased to a travel firm’s call centre. And the Town Hall Hotel will become a “mixed-use” property which will have a pub operating on the ground floor and the rest leased out to other businesses.
Add to that the competition from small bars and a changing population with more families with kids.
Pubs are now finding it difficult to attract customers.
Competing pub owners getting together is unprecedented but times are changing.
Labor Leichhardt mayor Darcy Byrne, who is running for the Inner West Council in September, organised a forum which drew a crowd of bowling club managers and publicans.
He said a plan of action was now being drawn to draw locals and people from outside the area to the hotels.
The key, he said, was everyone working together to make it happen.
“The group agreed that it is time for a united effort between local hotels and the Council to give the Peninsula’s famous pub sector a shot in the arm,” Byrne told the Daily Telegraph.
“It is crucial the new Inner West Council and hotels work together to invest in promotion, deliver more frequent festivals and events and make the area a live music hub.”
He said he would bring in planning controls preventing established pubs being converted into office space or flats if he is elected.
And he said he would also support the pubs’ demands for more live music to attract customers.
Also, he flagged a return to a “good neighbour policy”, allowing the council to negotiate solutions to noise complaints rather than prosecuting venues.
by Leon Gettler, June 6th 2017
