Owners of Utopia @ Waterfall Gully cafe devastated after forced to close due to landslide
OWNERS of a leading Adelaide Hills cafe and wedding venue closed indefinitely over fears of a second landslide are “devastated” by the “callous” attitude of their landlord, the State Government.
OWNERS of a leading Adelaide Hills cafe, restaurant and wedding venue closed indefinitely because of fears of another landslide say they are “devastated” by the “callous” attitude of their landlord, the State Government.
Kelly Markos, who holds a 20-year lease on the Utopia @ Waterfall Gully venue with husband Justin, said it was “mind-blowing” the couple were only given a one-hour notice to vacate the property last Friday despite previous assurances five functions, including a wedding, could go ahead at the weekend.
“It’s been horrific — and we’re only just coping because of the generosity of our staff, some who are working for nothing to see us through,” Ms Markos said.
“We’ve been up for three days with hardly any sleep doing everything we can from our end.
“We understand the safety concerns but the Government’s attitude has been so callous.”
Ms Markos, who has relocated several functions to a second leased venue at Glanville Hall, Semaphore, said she had not received a return call from the office of Environment Minister, Ian Hunter, or the Premier’s Department.
Calls to the landlord, the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR), who closed the restaurant on Friday after an inspection by a geotechnician have also dried up since initial offers to help.
“I begged them for help and told them we needed a truck and a refrigeration truck to vacate and they rang back and basically said get your own,” Ms Markos added.
“We aren’t asking for charity just some acknowledgment and support from our own government.
“With the floods we’ve had no income for three weeks and we have 10 fulltime staff to pay.”
The initial landslide that occurred last Monday damaged office and storage spaces but left the restaurant and kitchen areas unscathed.
An engineer gave the all-clear to continue trading on Wednesday but another engineer overturned that assessment on Friday.
The business has already suffered significant revenue losses of more than 30 per cent following the closure of the Mt Lofty trail from the Waterfall Gully carpark.
Ms Markos has dismissed the claims of a DEWNR spokeswoman — in a written statement to The Advertiser — that “the leasee has had rental payments waived for the past three weeks” and has “received an emergency assistance grant” from the State Government.
“The first we heard about waiving the rent was on Friday when I was crying down the phone and that cannot be considered official,” Ms Markos added.
“They mentioned the Government’s $700 grant for those who were without electricity but they can’t say we’ve received it — we have received nothing.”
The DEWNR statement says the department is “sympathetic” but could give no assurances of when the venue will be safe.
Further investigations will occur on Monday.
“So much for sympathy, we didn’t even receive a phone call from them (DEWNR) with the first lot of flooding (two weeks ago) to see if we were still alive … we literally just got our staff out before the floods took the roads out,” Ms Markos added.
“The lack of interest in us as their client has been extremely difficult to understand. I was devastated Friday night — but now I’m angry.
“I’ve had brides crying down the phone asking if their wedding is off and I can’t answer them.”
Four weddings booked for this week have been relocated to Glanville Hall.
Several brides-to-be offered support via Facebook, but couldn’t hide their disappointment.
“I know they’ll do their best to make everyone’s day amazing but I’m a bit distraught ... I set my heart on Utopia & Waterfall Gully,” Bec Wilson wrote.
The couple have held the lease on Utopia since 2010
“We paid $200,000 of our own money two years ago to renovate the building because it was in poor condition,” Ms Markos added.
“We asked for help and they (DEWNR) flat out refused to contribute so we did it ourselves. We love that building … it’s our baby.
“I will crawl on my hands and knees to make sure we don’t let anyone down. This is our entire life.”
Relatives of the Markos family have set up a GoFundMe page to help the couple pay staff.
DEWNR says it is working on an alternative track from Waterfall Gully to Mount Lofty Summit. Future access to the area will only occur once the site has been deemed safe.