Glenny Kebabs in Glen Waverley shut down, thousands sign petition to reopen
A cult kebab hotspot in Glen Waverley shut down by an Aussie fuel giant has attracted support from thousands of people desperate for it to be reopened.
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A GLEN Waverley cult food hot spot has attracted thousands of signatures in a petition calling for it to reopen after it was shut down by Aussie fuel giant Caltex.
Glenny Kebabs owner Asad Syed said Caltex, which sublets some of the Springvale Rd service station site to the business, shut it down last Wednesday after he refused to acquiesce to its most recent “unreasonable” demands.
But the fuel giant said it needed to act to ensure the safety of its customers, as well as ensuring its own lease was not under threat due to the actions of Glenny Kebabs.
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Despite Caltex terminating the leasing agreement, Mr Syed hopes to continue trading on the site as he tries to launch an injunction through VCAT.
“It is very drastic,” he said.
“It is unfair on me, unfair on my staff, unfair on the community. It is taking a toll on all of us. That shop’s my life and my staff are family.
“It’s very distressing.
“On top of that there are legal fees. It’s scary. There’s only so much I can afford.”
Glenny Kebabs has been in a year-long battle with Caltex and Monash Council after his long-term lease started in October 2016.
The council’s planning department had flagged many issues with Glenny Kebabs, including noise complaints, rubbish, where cars were parked, too much seating and operating out of permitted hours.
But Mr Syed said he had agreed to fix all issues, including the removal of a veranda, until the most recent problem.
“We received a … notice that we had to remove the tables and chairs and to expressly prohibit people from eating on the site or even in their cars,” he said.
“That is something quite difficult to police — I can’t go around from car to car telling guys they couldn’t eat.
“It’s just unreasonable, so I couldn’t comply with that.”
While Mr Syed is seeking an injunction to the lease termination through the tribunal, he said his customers had organised a protest at the site, while about 2000 people have signed a petition since it launched yesterday.
Caltex’s Chris Ellis said the company had worked proactively with the business for the past year, addressing compliance with council regulations and ensuring public access and safety was maintained.
After no action was taken in response to its most recent notice, Caltex was “left with no option but to terminate our agreement”.
Mr Ellis said the issues stemmed from the Glenny Kebabs site not being approved for use as a restaurant.
“A sit-down dining area and large numbers of vehicles parked on a service station forecourt create a public safety issue that we have a duty of care to address,” he said.
“The risk of having uncontrolled vehicle movements around seated patrons and pedestrians was too great a risk to ignore — the safety of our customers, employees and the public will always come first.”
Mr Ellis said Caltex understood the closure was “disappointing to some members of the community”, but safety came first.
“We genuinely hope the owners can find an appropriate local site that is approved for use as a restaurant and will allow them to achieve what they have set out to with this business,” he said.
My Syed said they hoped to open another site in Monash but that it wouldn’t be ready for months.
Mayor Shane McCluskey said the situation was a civil matter for Caltex and Glenny Kebabs.
To see the petition click here.
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