Milledge’s Distillery in Port Adelaide risks closure as noise complaints dispute goes to court
The owner of a much-loved distillery and event venue fears they’re on the brink of closure over noise complaints from one resident, who is taking them to court.
SA News
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The owner of a cherished venue in Port Adelaide fears his business may shut because of persistent noise complaints from a single resident.
Founded by Adrian Galindo, Milledge’s Distillation evolved from a hobby in his Brighton shed and 12 years ago he opened a popular gin distillery on Todd St.
Three years ago, it expanded into a bar, co-working space, and live music venue.
Despite its success, the venue has been plagued by noise complaints for the past year from one local who lives nearby.
“He initially emailed us and we responded to his emails,” the 59-year-old said.
“We sat down with the person concerned and said, obviously, we don’t want to be a bad neighbour. We talked about what we could put in place and what was practical.”
The father of two boys said he “tried to do everything” within reason to address the noise concerns but the resident “wasn’t satisfied”.
“We have offered to help out with soundproofing for him and that’s all been knocked back,” the Adelaide local said.
Despite spending thousands on noise-reduction measures, including installing $27,000 doors with 55 decibels of sound insulation, Mr Galindo said the complaints persisted.
“We shut any music off at half-eleven, although we’re licensed until 12, manage the music through our own mixing desk so we can control how much sound is actually coming out.”
The situation escalated when the Port Adelaide Enfield Council received complaints from “nearby residents”, prompting them to look into “Milledge’s compliance with its liquor licence”.
“We sought to work with both parties to address the concerns and ensure the business was operating in accordance with its approval,” the spokesman said in a statement.
Council said it made several suggestions to the business so it can keep “operating successfully”.
“The business has been permitted to continue to operate without any restrictions, and at no time have we sought to close the business down,” council wrote.
Mr Galindo said it suggested substantial building modifications, including constructing a foyer to “keep noise from going out”, which he believes is financially unfeasible.
“(That would) be a quarter-of-a-million-dollar-type investment in the building. As a mum-and-dad business like us, we just can’t do that. It just seems so unfair, completely unreasonable.”
The dispute has now reached the state’s Licensing Court, with Mr. Galindo highlighting the emotional and financial toll it has taken.
“You can end up with quite a few tears over this stuff. There have been a lot of sleepless nights, we’ve spent a lot of money (and) had to hire legal representation,” he said.
He said it will be “heartbreaking” if locals lose their “community hub” if the venue shuts, especially for patrons who enjoy activities such as open-mic nights and life-drawing classes.
“It’ll be heartbreaking. It’s become a real centre for all sorts of stuff,” he said.
“Shutting it down is going to bring a lot of misery. There’ll be so many people who would be negatively affected by this.”
Company’s whopping fine after worker crushed in horrific accident
A worker at a potato processing facility said he now lives a despairing existence after a horrific work accident.
Washing dishes with bottled water as Mali leaves farmers high and dry
This Hills farmer has never seen anything like it: washing his cups with bottled drinking water to remove the salty taste because his dams are running dry.