Subiaco Hotel roof-deck beers on hold

Licence woes: Owner Judy Monaghan. Picture: Michael O'Brien/The West Australian

Patrons wanting to enjoy a beer or wine on the roof deck at the renovated Subiaco Hotel will have to wait until at least August because of problems with the establishment's liquor licence.

Owner Judy Monaghan told The West Australian yesterday the hotel intended to bring in glass from overseas to build a 1m sound barrier wall around the roof deck, a new building requirement after a decision from the Director of Liquor Licensing late last month.

The heritage-listed hotel, owned by Mrs Monaghan and her husband Michael since 1971, reopened in July last year after about 16 months of multimillion-dollar renovations.

Mrs Monaghan said it transpired that the extensive renovations had not been approved by the liquor regulator because of what she described as an inadvertent mistake when there was a personnel change halfway through the project.

In his decision, Director of Liquor Licensing delegate Brett Snell retrospectively approved the "unauthorised construction" of a new mezzanine level, toilet block and the enlargement and refurbishment of the former function room but said he held "serious concerns" about the deck bar.

Conditions including keeping doors closed at all times and not being able to play music at any time on the deck were placed on the hotel's liquor licensing conditions to prevent the new section having a detrimental effect on nearby residents.

Mrs Monaghan said she was "virtually being held over a barrel" and she felt powerless dealing with the liquor authority. "We are trying to do the right thing," she said.

"Quite obviously it was a mistake at the beginning, inadvertent, rather than people thumbing their noses at the instrumentality but we've just got to suck it up unfortunately."

In his decision, Mr Snell said the fact the work was unauthorised meant the licensee "effectively extricated itself from the regulatory regime imposed by the Act".

"In my view, this is in itself a very serious matter, which is made even more serious by the extensive experience and knowledge of the applicant," he wrote.

Mrs Monaghan said she was offended by the decision, which gave people the impression "that we are cowboys", and that a lot was invested to making it a coherent development.

"We relied on consultants, engineers and heritage people," she said.

"It's an amenity and it seems like such a storm in a tea cup."

Source:  The West Australlian - 14th April 2015