Sparrows Bar in Sandringham denied extended trading hours
A popular Sandringham bar has won the backing of hundreds of neighbours after Bayside council refused it a weekend late-night licence. The bar-goers say it would “breathe some much needed life” into post-pandemic Sandy.
Inner South
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The community has thrown its support behind a popular Bayside wine and cocktail bar in the heart of Sandringham which had an application to extend its weekend trading hours knocked back.
Despite glowing references from council planning officers, councillors voted no to the proposal.
The council red light has sparked the creation of a petition, asking council to review its decision, and has almost 400 signatures.
Sparrows Bar on Bay Rd in Sandringham, whihc opened in 2017, is run and owned by Dan Macpherson and has a permit to operate on Friday and Saturday nights until 11pm.
Local Sarah Chung-Redzia said “there are other businesses nearby that have been granted permission to stay open, why can’t Sparrows?”
“It will breathe some much needed life into the area and generate more income to surrounding businesses. It is not a rowdy bar either. Really lovely service and people,” she said.
Pip Hall said Sandringham needed some action because nothing is open after 9pm.
“It is a like ghost town,” she said.
Other local establishments, like the Sandy Hotel (which can open until 5am nightly) and Baia Di Vino, have licenses which extend to at least 1am.
Mr Macpherson has been working for almost a year to get his establishment ready for extended trading hours – until 1am on Friday and Saturday nights.
He said that included spending $17,000 on professionals to make sure noise was limited, trees were preserved and regulations were met.
But councillors rejected Mr Macpherson’s application on the back of four objections from nearby residents.
Cr Laurence Evans, who admitted he’d never been to the bar, said Mr Macpherson needed to deal with the noise and “settle down and get his licensed area intact”.
He argued a 1am closing time was unreasonable for the pub’s neighbours.
Cr Rob Grinter said he didn’t like seeing businesses in Bayside operating until 1am, but 12.30am or 12am would have been okay.
Mr Macpherson said the report that was put to the council by its own planning officers was very favourable.
So much so, he watched the council meeting on live stream with champagne ready to celebrate.
However, noise complaints and fears about late night noise won out and the decision to reject the application was unanimous.
Now Mr Macpherson says his only option is to appeal the decision at VCAT, which will cost him another $6000.
“I can’t get a hearing until February and it’s going to cost me even more money,” he said.
Mr Macpherson said despite being closed due to the pandemic, he was “still paying the landlord the full amount and the council still wants its rates” so it’s a tough time financially.
“Adding those four hours would’ve been a massive boost coming out of COVID-19. I was really counting on it to go through, now it could break me and the business,” he said.
“I have a young family and because of the current climate your mental health does take a bit of a nosedive.”
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State member for Sandringham Brad Rowswell said Bayside City Council should be doing everything in their power to support and promote hard working local businesses at this time.
“This decision is a slap in the face to a small business doing what it can to survive the coronavirus pandemic,” he said.
“Sparrows Bar received the support and endorsement of Bayside Council’s own planning officers and yet Bayside Councillors voted against this recommendation. It’s now up to those councillors to justify why they have chosen to abandon this local business – especially during this challenging time.”