Dry Dock Hotel approved for Tweed Heads West with midnight close

A new restaurant and bar has been approved for Tweed Heads West with one major change to the original plans. See what it means for the operation of the venue.

A new tavern with food, drinks and gaming has been approved for Tweed Heads West under the condition they close at 12am.

The $6.05 million Dry Dock Hotel to be built at 14 Fraser Dr will feature a new food and drink premises, with a restaurant, cafe and oyster bar in the northern part of the site and an ancillary bottle shop and drive thru on the southern part.

The new pub proposal was lodged by Mormatsal Investments Pty Ltd, which is co-directed by Taphouse Group managing director David Mattick – the same group behind the Chinderah Tavern and Kingscliff Hotel.

The new development was approved at Thursday afternoon’s Tweed Shire council meeting with 149 conditions largely regarding construction and vegetation management.

However the biggest change is a restriction of operating hours to midnight, where the original application had proposed gaming until 4am.

In an earlier council meeting the approval was delayed after concerns were raised about how the late hours could have negative social impact on the surrounding caravan parks.

At Thursday’s meeting councillor Warren Polglase spoke in support of the new operating hours, saying longer opening hours can encourage intoxication which can be difficult to police by bar staff.

“Overall I think it’s a good project,” Mr Polglase said.

“It’s an investment to Tweed.”

Newly elected councillor Nola Firth asked if an extra condition could be added stipulating that the synthetic turf to be used on the carpark be made of at least 60 per cent renewable resources.

“There is turf right near the water and there is an issue with synthetic turf that it sheds microplastic,” Dr Firth said.

Another added condition was the hotel must make a commitment to sponsor either a local sporting club/local recreation organisation, or community support services.

Mayor Chris Cherry spoke in support of the development noting the feedback received from the community had been supportive of the new facility.

Councillors voted unanimously in favour of approving the development.

The developer has been contacted for comment.