Small Bar Revolution in Sydney Rolled Up in Red Tape
This article on 4bars.com.au tells us New South Wales town planning is also playing catch up with the liquor licensing legislation. B³ is working to speed up the change in Queensland.
In some areas of Brisbane an application for a bar licence is less complicated than it is in others. The first bar licence to be approved is in South Brisbane/Woolloongabba at Caro Mio, a classic 30s style cafe and jazz bar now licensed and offering movies on the weekends. In this pocket of South Brisbane the town planning regulations classify a hotel as a Self Assessable application. When will the rest of the state be brought into line?
http://4bars.com.au/web/2009/08/14/small-bar-red-tape/
August 20, 2009 at 7:19 PMGeorge
I’ve been looking into opening up a small bar and the red tape is ridiculous. Self Assessable applications may assist somewhat but I have done the math and it just doesn’t work. I think one cannot have an establishment <100m2 and do the volume to break even – let alone turn a profit. I think the powers that be need to revisit this.
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August 20, 2009 at 7:22 PMAndrew
Interesting – but Caro Mio looks like (at least in part) a cafe, why didn’t they just get the same licence a cafe would get? Or is the advantage that they don’t have to serve a certain percentage of the patrons food.
Good news that a licence has been approved though. Are there any in the pipeline for straight up bars?
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August 20, 2009 at 7:31 PMDiarmuid
Caro Mio has a downstairs area with tables and chairs but set up for a casual drink rather than dining. So the bar licence allows this to operate without any question regarding ‘principal activity’.
In the pipleline now are a few bar licence applications for the fusion trading model, but no dedicated bars yet. We’re talking to a couple of people about lodging applications.
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August 21, 2009 at 5:36 PMAndrew
Hi – George – that’s interesting (if a bit depressing). What are the costs in particular that are making the figures not work, is it the rent or the labour, the start up costs or something else? As we know, small bars do somehow turn a profit in other places.
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