Inner-north bar ‘relentlessly targeted' with hundreds of ‘petty' complaints from residents
'For the past four years, we've been relentlessly targeted by a small group of nearby residents,' the owners of Moonee Ponds restaurant and bar Holmes Hall said in a post on social media.
David Bartl, Jacob Bettio and Lachlan Taylor said their bar has been subjected to hundreds of complaints, including more than 30 freedom of information requests, multiple appeals to the Victorian Civil Appeals Tribunal (VCAT) and attempts to revoke their planning permit entirely.
'We're a local venue doing everything right,' they said in a post on Instagram. 'And we're exhausted.'
The owners said the complaints were part of a broader issue affecting small, community-minded venues across Melbourne.
'Good operators are being dragged through endless red tape and legal attacks by individuals trying to shut them down – not because they've done something wrong, but because they simply exist,' they said.
The Age has been provided with copies of some of the complaints made to Moonee Valley City Council. They include accusations of deliveries not being conducted in prescribed loading zones, waste collections occurring on public holidays, patrons using an incorrect door as an exit, alcohol being consumed outside permitted areas, music exceeding permitted volumes, seating not being in accordance with permits, illegal parking by patrons, pressure-washing equipment causing waste water to enter stormwater assets and signs for 'Drag Bingo' and 'Tipsy Trivia' on walls in contravention of the pub's planning permit.
Former footballer and coach Danielle Laidley is a regular at Holmes Hall and lives nearby. She said she had never heard any noise or ruckus coming from the venue.
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