Sydney venues The Colombian, The Gaslight Inn close internal door after Liquor and Gaming crackdown

Two adjoining pubs in the heart of Sydney’s Oxford St have come under scrutiny from the state’s gaming watchdog over concerns an internal door linking the venues was allowing them to operate as a mini casino.

Liquor and Gaming had raised concerns over a door linking two Sydney venues.

Two adjoining pubs in the heart of Sydney’s Oxford St have come under scrutiny from the state’s gaming watchdog over concerns an internal door linking the venues was allowing them to operate as a mini casino.

The Gaslight Inn and The Colombian Hotel in Darlinghurst have agreed to close off an internal door connecting the two venues after sparking regulatory action from Liquor and Gaming NSW.

This week, the government agency ordered the venues to have the door sealed off due to concerns that it had turned their individual gaming rooms into “one expanded gaming room” by allowing punters to move freely between the venues.

On Thursday, the pub– owned by major hospitality group Iris Capital – informed Liquor and Gaming that the door had been locked shut in response to the concerns raised.

Liquor and Gaming regulatory operations and enforcement executive director Jane Lin claimed the combined gaming rooms had circumvented legislation that sets strict limits on the number of machines allowed.

A photo of the internal door that had linked the venues.

The door had come under scrutiny from Liquor and Gaming NSW.

The Gaslight Inn has a licence to operate 25 gaming machines and The Colombian Hotel has 30.

“Patrons at both venues have effectively been given direct access to 55 gaming machines instead of the legislated hotel maximum of 30 because of the interconnected rooms,” Ms Lin said.

“The existence of a door between the two gaming rooms served the purpose of facilitating patrons to move from one gaming room to the other.

Gaming machines at The Colombian could be accessed from The Gaslight Inn via the internal door.

“This circumvented the gaming machine limits imposed on hotels which exist as a harm minimisation measure.”

Iris Capital is understood to be reviewing the Liquor and Gaming directive but declined to comment further on the matter.

The regulatory action comes after the interconnected door was subject to a long-running planning battle between Iris Capital and council planners from the City of Sydney.

The two venues are both owned by Iris Capital.

A photo inside the Colombian Hotel.

In 2021, Iris Capital was granted Land and Environment Court approval to operate the door on a one-year trial basis after it was initially rejected by the council.

NSW Police also raised concerns over the door due to fears it would allow the venues to “operate as one” and “could lead to intoxication levels being more difficult to monitor.”

When the trial expired, Iris Capital lodged a new development application to the City of Sydney to make the interconnected door a permanent fixture.

An architectural plan of the two venues, showing how they were internally linked.

The City for Sydney, in October last year, agreed to an extended trial but rejected the permanent arrangements based on concerns from NSW Police that Covid restrictions during the initial trial made it “difficult to ascertain whether satisfactory management performance of the venue and specifically the interconnecting door had indeed occurred.”

Iris Capital - in its plans for the door - stated it would “enhance patron amenity” and “facilitate patrons moving between the two venues without having to leave the respective buildings and use the street.”

The Liquor and Gaming regulatory measures was issued under gaming legislation which allows directives to be issued where gaming machines are located in a manner that is designed to attract members of the public to play poker machines or in circumstances where it is “contrary to the public interest.”

“The government and the community not only expect technical compliance with the state’s gambling laws, but for the spirit and intent of those laws to be met,” Ms Lin said.

“Liquor and Gaming NSW takes a zero-tolerance approach to venues that do not comply with gaming harm minimisation requirements.”

A Liquor and Gaming spokeswoman said both venues “will be subject to further monitoring.”