Update
The licensee of Cronulla restaurant JD’s Bar & Grill said the venue will continue with its existing hours while it appeals a council decision to refuse an extension of 3am closing on weekends.
John Quinlan said the decision threatened the viability of the business.
He said he had the option to appeal to the Land and Environment Court, but hoped the issues could be resolved through mediation with the police and council.
Mr Quinlan said, if he was unsuccessful, the trading time on Friday and Saturday nights would revert to 1am, not midnight as indicated in the council assessment report.
Mr Quinlan said only two major incidents of violence had occurred in the 14 years he had been operating the venue.
“The others are ‘push and shove’,” he said.
“We contact the police when there is an incident and, unfortunately, that becomes a mark against us”.
Mr Quinlan said the initial trial was for one year, but he believed the council had just automatically extended it.
“Every year since, I have paid a $5500 licence fee for trading beyond 1am, so I thought it was all legitimate,” he said.
Mr Quinlan said the matter was discovered when a new police commander looked at the licencing permits for all venues.
He said JD’s had a clientele aged from 30 to 65, which was older than that for other Cronulla bars.
Earlier
A Cronulla mall restaurant has been refused an extension of a trial of 3am weekend trading after police linked it to 17 violence related incidents over seven years.
JD’s Bar & Grill will be forced to close at 1pm on Friday and Saturday nights unless Sutherland Shire Council can be persuaded otherwise at a meeting to be held next week.
The upstairs restaurant and function venue at the northern end of the mall has live entertainment, in the form of a DJ, between 10am and 2pm on Friday and Saturday nights.
Although it has been permitted to trade until 3am on those nights, its advertised closing time is 2am.
In 2011, the council approved what was supposed to be a one- year trial of 3am weekend closing.
The arrangement continued without further official action until police discovered last year the trial period was well and truly over.
The licensee was required to submit a new development application (DA), which the council refused this month.
Only one objection was received from the public, but police opposed the extension and the council’s assessment officer agreed.
“It is considered that the police evidence confirms that the premises have not shown a commitment to good management and that in this case the privilege of extended hours should not be granted,” the assessment report said.
Police advised, since 2011, there had been 29 incidents at, or attributed to, JD’s, of which 20 were after midnight and 17 were violence related.
Licensee John Quinlan, who has operated the venue for 14 years, said he hoped the council would reconsider after further information was presented at next week’s meeting.
“This is one of the last places where you can dine, dance and drink n a non-gambling environment after midnight on a weekend,” he said.
Mr Quinlan said he understood police had a job to do.
“We are all working together,” he said.
Mr Quinlan said he overlooked renewing the application for 3am weekend trading when it was due four years ago.
There had been no follow-up from the council, he said.
Mr Quinlan said in the DA, “We have had numerous requests from our patrons to continue with the existing trading hours”.
“We have a strong clientele and there is a definite and genuine demand for our services to be available.”
The DA said, since 2011, “we have never had a complaint from police, council or residents concerning the operation of our premises, and the continuation of the extended hours of operation will not be detrimental to the well being of the local or broader community.”
The council assessment said a survey of consents between 2006 and 2017 for restaurants and food shops in Cronulla Street showed they were generally only approved to trade until midnight or earlier.
“The two exceptions are Brass Monkey, a restaurant with entertainment which has a trial to 3am on Saturday / Sunday mornings, and 2230, which has an approval to 1am,” the report said.
The report said patrons of a restaurant with a Primary Service of Alcohol license were likely to be drinking rather than eating between 1am and 3am.
The case is further evidence of police taking a strong stance on late-night, alcochol-related violence in the mall.
Police advice last year led to the refusal of a pizza and kebab shop to open until 2.30am on weekends.
Cronulla Pizza, Pide and Kebabs sought to open beyond its approved midnight trading limit.
