Jessica Leo: Liquor licencing laws review should open up small bar licence to Adelaide suburbs
DON’T sweat the small stuff. That’s long been a mantra for success but, for the SA Government, it’s the small stuff that could cause the biggest headaches.
DON’T sweat the small stuff. That’s long been a mantra for success but, for the SA Government, it’s the small stuff that could cause the biggest headaches.
We’re talking small bars — a bone of contention among hoteliers, a buzz phrase within our borders and a potential saviour for our suburbs.
This week, former Supreme Court Justice Tim Anderson handed down his 129 findings from a long-awaited review into liquor licensing laws.
Our state’s Liquor Licensing Act hasn’t been for altered for nearly two decades so every Tom, Dick and Harry made submissions — 89 to be precise — to the review. These came from both sides of the fence and didn’t just canvas the small bar debate.
But for something so small in name, it’s a big issue.
Mr Anderson should be commended for going some way towards recommending the extension of small bars but, he doesn’t go far enough.
In his review he suggests small bar licences — which allow a capacity of up to 120 people and the sale of alcohol without meals being served — should be extended to North Adelaide to complete their spread across the Adelaide City Council district.
But what about the ‘burbs? Mayors and councils have long been crying out for legislative changes to allow small bars to set up shop on suburban street corners. They argue it will bring new patronage to main streets, increase vibrancy and help lower vacancy rates.
They’re not wrong. As increasingly the trend towards suburbs with a more “village” feel continues, the need for an inviting bar or two is set to become more evident.
Butchers, bakers and grocers are great during regular business hours but save for some takeaway joints and a smattering of restaurants, some suburbs are virtually ghost towns once the sun goes down. Where can one linger and meet the locals in myriad suburbs which can’t claim a local just around the corner?
I used to live in West Beach and only after moving to the neighbourhood I realised my suburb didn’t actually have “a local”. Stuck in limbo between Henley Beach and Glenelg it was noticeable that buzz was missing.
Similarly, now living in the inner south, my nearest bar for a convivial drink with a neighbour or friend is most certainly not within walking distance — and I like walking a fair bit (possibly even more than I like drinking).
If you live within a cooee of The Parade, Jetty Rd or King William Rd you may not face this predicament but, when you consider we have more than 400 metropolitan suburbs within 25km of the Adelaide CBD, you’re in the minority.
By and large bricks and mortar publicans have long been opponents of small bars — especially in the CBD where more than 60 small bars have sprung up since 2013. But this hasn’t led to the mass closure of traditional pubs and Adelaideans have done well to patronise both types of establishments, proving there’s plenty of love to go around.
It’s like anything else in life — survival of the fittest. And when it comes to the case for Adelaide as a whole, “adapt or die” is a mantra worth meditating on.
The State Government is yet to decide whether it will adopt Mr Anderson’s recommendations wholesale or cherry pick those it feels most comfortable with delivering.
But as a resident of our suburbs I implore them to go that one step further, take the bull by the horns and open up the small bar licence to all — from Seaford to Salisbury.
Those that fear the threat of small bars need to remember that any entrepreneurs game to throw their hat in the ring are doing so with a great deal of risk, cost and faith. We’re not talking about people operating clandestine bars from their living rooms, we’re talking about people who will create jobs in our communities, lower vacancy rates along our suburban strips and breathe new life into our suburbs.
The State Government’s inability to roll out small bars across our suburbs will smack of another shortsighted decision which ultimately will be righted — and that’s a one-way expressway nobody wants to get on.
JESSICA LEO IS MESSENGER COMMUNITY NEWS’ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF