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 New liquor licensing laws could help turn the tide in Oxford Street. Say hello to the ‘small bar’. Reg Domingo reports.
For nearly two decades, Terry Forster has worked in just about every conceivable hospitality venue: cafés, restaurants, bars, clubs. With stints in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and overseas, one would think that, as far as food and beverage service goes, there isn’t much left for him to tackle.
But, in less than three months, the Eastern Suburbs resident will be taking on an entirely new and foreign challenge – running his very own ‘hole-in-the-wall’ bar.
Forster is among dozens of entrepreneurs making the most flexible liquor licensing legislation which came into effect last week. Under the new Small Bars Bill, introduced by Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore into Parliament last year, operators will be able to obtain liquor trading licenses with greater ease and, more significantly, with far less money.
Forster, who is looking to open a small bar that will cater between 30 to 50 people, says the new laws will bring more colour and diversity into Sydney’s monotonous bar culture.
“Yes, there’s always place for pubs in Sydney,” he tells SX. “But the new laws will bring a bit more sophistication in so far as having more restaurants and bars where you can go and just have a drink.”
Forster, whose site will be located near the cinemas in Paddington, says that his establishment will be “user-friendly”, and be the kind of place where “you can meet up with friends after work, get a couple of plates [of food] and have a couple of drinks before you head somewhere else, or have a bite to eat before you go to the movies or a dessert after the cinemas”.
“What I want to create is something that is accessible to people,” he adds. “A place which they can use on different levels instead of just having a drink.”
Instrumental in the Bill’s approval was Raise the Bar, a grassroots organisation that campaigned fervently in support of change. Established in mid-2007 when two Facebook groups – Sydney Hole in the Wall (Bar) Appreciation Society and We Want Funky Little Pubs – amalgamated, the group undertook several email and petition campaigns pressuring the NSW Government to adopt the bill. It yielded thousands and thousands of signatures.
“I’m hoping to see new venues open up, and a better mix of venues as well, not just more of the same,” a spokesperson told SX, adding that the group, which celebrated its victory at The Chocolate Factory last week, simply reflected popular opinion.
“We were just a conduit for people who wanted to see the change,” he adds. “We gave them a space to go and make their voices heard.”
And hear the State Government did. It eventually approved changes that replaced what many believed were archaic, unfair and uncompetitive statutes in the Liquor Act.
In the past, people who wanted to open a small bar were required to apply for a hoteliers license at a cost of $2,000. In addition, applicants were also required to prepare a social impact assessment report, which could cost up to $50,000 in legal fees and take months to complete. Meanwhile, established restaurants wishing to serve only alcohol must apply for a ‘Drink or Dine’ authority, a provision that can cost up to $15,000. And even then, only 30 per cent of the restaurant of patrons can be served alcohol without meals.
But now, under the new laws, people wanting to open small bars will only have to pay $500. And while small bar operators will still need to obtain council approval, the application process will become more streamlined and efficient.
“It’s long, long, long overdue,” says Andrew Duckmanton, President of the Darlinghurst Business Partnership.
“It just creates a whole different culture and dynamic. It gives us really good capital. All one had to do was look at the success of it in other cites - Melbourne, Montreal, London, anywhere you go. We are not behoved to the large pub mentality.”
Duckmanton says that, in conjunction with other strategies, the new laws could help lift Darlinghurst and Oxford Street out of its commercial rut.
“The solution is many-layered and I think this is one part that will help that,” he says. “Other parts will be rejuvenating arts and culture, and looking at how the day-time economy transitions into the night-time economy. At the moment, the day-time economy has suffered with businesses leaving the area. But if you have small bars, then potentially small businesses will come back in … I think celebrating with the GLBT community will be fundamental to this.” Already, Duckmanton says, three members within the association have expressed interest in establishing small bars for GLBT patrons.
And it’s a view that’s reflected at Raise the Bar.
“Hopefully, by encouraging that smaller set-up we can help reduce those problems of violence and anti-social behaviour,” the spokesperson says, adding that Surry Hills, Darlinghurst, Kings Cross and Paddington are the ideal places for bar operators to exploit the new system. “There’s a lot of opportunity there.”
For Forster, who also plans to open a second hole-in-the-wall bar in the CBD, the impact of the new laws is even more far-reaching.
“It’s been a long-time coming,” he says. “And, as has happened in Melbourne, it can revolutionise the way we socialise.”
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Holes in the pink wall
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