Anonymous complaints force Spirited Goat’s lawn chairs off The Strand

The popular lawn chairs set up along The Strand by a local restaurant have been removed following anonymous complaints to council, leaving the owners and locals ‘gutted.’ VOTE IN OUR POLL.

Council has asked for the popular lawn chairs at The Strand to be removed. Picture: Instagram/SpiritedGoat

The popular lawn chairs set up along The Strand by a local restaurant have been removed following anonymous complaints to council, leaving the owners and many locals ‘gutted.’

The Spirited Goat venue broke the news on Instagram overnight, revealing that anonymous complaints led the Townsville City Council to request the removal of their chairs.

“We’re heartbroken to share that we’ve had to remove our beloved Spirited Goat picnic chairs from the grass across the road on The Strand,” the post reads.

“Due to anonymous complaints, Council asked us to take them away – even though these chairs were provided, managed, and maintained solely by us as a little gift to the community.”

Spirited Goat partner Don Peel explained that the chairs were intended to create a tranquil spot where everyone could sit, relax and enjoy the views across The Strand.

“We noticed was there was a lack of seating around the area, instead of campaigning for council to spend more money, we thought we’d just do a community service and buy some chairs,” he said

Spirited Goat partner Don Peel. Photo: Keagan Elder

“Anyone was welcome to sit there, you didn’t have to be a customer of The Spirited Goat.

“But then council just called up and said, ‘Look, we’ve had multiple complaints about the chairs’. And I was like, ‘Wow, we haven’t had a single complaint directly at all’. So that was a super surprise.”

“I think it’s just the case of one person spoiling it for all.”

“You know, it’s a real shame that some somebody who’s obviously not happy, I’m not sure whether it was a business or an individual or what, but somebody made a complaint, and the council has an obligation to act on those things so we’re not upset with the council.”

“We’re probably more upset with the system that stops initiatives like that from going on.”

“We have a great relationship with all the other traders down there, so I can’t imagine it was any of them.”

He said they wanted to see the lawn chairs return in some form and would be in contact with the council to see how they could make that happen.

Community support for the venue surged online, with local influencer Holly Newman (TsvEats) voicing her frustration, posting, “What crap, Townsville Council, C’mon let them put the chairs out.”

A Townsville City Council spokesperson said their decision to ask them to remove the chairs stems from an earlier decision council made to not allow the business to set up a regular informal dining on The Strand’s grassed areas.

“As Townsville’s premier waterfront precinct, The Strand has a large number of businesses which benefit from the high volume of visitors to the area – it is because of this that council cannot allow individual businesses to expand their trade, including chairs and tables, onto The Strand’s open green spaces,” they said.

“This ensures equity for all traders and to uphold safety for walkers, runners and families in the area.

“Council is keen to speak with traders, including The Spirited Goat, and other stakeholders about the potential future expansion of informal dining areas along The Strand esplanade.”

Division 3 councillor Ann-Maree Greaney, who represents The Strand, said she supported the deck chairs and wanted to work with the business owner to ensure they were returned.

She was not sure how this could happen to comply with legislation, but suggested either the Spirited Goat could apply for a permit which would abide by the council’s outdoor dining policy, or the council buy deck chairs and install them itself.

“This morning we had some people who were really annoyed the deck chairs had been removed and they had picnic blankets down there and were sitting there, so I’m trying to work out what the difference is,” Ms Greaney said.

“You can’t move those people on because they’re sitting on picnic blankets, but someone puts out deck chairs, someone complains and the council has to investigate it further.

“But you know, I’m happy and willing to talk to any business about that down at The Strand about it if they’re willing to put out deck chairs and what they’d like to do, and council has been in discussions about how we are going to activate the Strand more.

“It does have to be fair and equitable and I get that.”

She compared the complaint that led to the council removing the 20 deck chairs to a community fairy garden that was built on a North Ward median strip in 2021 for a neighbor diagnosed with terminal cancer, which then had to be removed because of a resident’s complaint.

“We’re legislated to do that and sometimes the outcome can work in our favour and then other instances not in our favour, so I’m all for the deck chairs,” Ms Greaney said.

Division 8 councillor Andrew Robinson believed the Spirited Goat owners had shown “initiative” but technically did not have the authority to place equipment along the esplanade.

The council would have considered the issue of safety and the onus of responsibility if someone was injured.

“The main message out of this one here though is that council would certainly encourage businesses to show initiatives like that, and it is a generous offer, however we would just ask for those businesses to work with council,” Mr Robinson said.

“Things like this may outwardly appear to be a great thing…but we just take that one incident, you know, for somebody to injure themselves and then who’s liable.

“Unfortunately we live in a litigious society these days so council needs to make sure that it’s looking after the safety of people but also ensuring that we’re not being exposed to legal action that may occur.”

Neither Mr Robinson or Division 5 councillor Vera Dirou had been told about the deck chairs removal.

Ms Dirou said she was unaware they had been removed until she read the Townsville Bulletin article, and she did not know what the nature of the complaint was.

“On a personal level I can’t see a problem but then there could be an issue with Work Health Safety and things like that.”

Originally published as Anonymous complaints force Spirited Goat’s lawn chairs off The Strand