Bayside Council law change paves way for lifesaving clubs to apply for liquor licenses
DENDY Beach Pavilion visitors will be able to enjoy a tipple by the beach after the council relaxed laws to make it easier for lifesaving clubs to apply for a liquor license.
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DENDY Beach Pavilion visitors will be able to enjoy a tipple by the beach after the council relaxed laws to make it easier for lifesaving clubs to apply for a liquor license.
The change happened in June when the council adopted its revised lease and licence policy.
The changes included shifting lifesaving clubs to a category that allows them to apply for liquor licences.
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The Brighton Life Saving Club is now free to apply for a license but the council’s consent is still needed.
The club can also apply for up to six temporary licenses through the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor, without the council’s consent.
If plans to redevelop the pavilion go ahead, the 60-seat cafe that is part of the plans would be classified in a different category.
Its operators will be able to apply for a liquor license through a public application for a planning permit and the liquor licence processes.
Council acting corporate services director Bill Shanahan said lifesaving clubs were switched to “better reflect the way the groups operate and the services they provide to the community”.
“(The group the club is now in) includes sports and lifesaving clubs (that) operate as membership, fee-paying clubs to generate income, but do not make a commercial profit,” he said.
“Many sports clubs in Bayside have limited liquor licences which help to support social activity and connectivity within the club membership.”
Earlier this month, the Leader revealed a hospitality consultant advised the council it would be “difficult to create an effective relationship between (Brighton Life Saving Club) … and a commercial business”.
The trouble plagued project is fighting wars on multiple fronts.
The council is locked in a VCAT battle after Aboriginal Victoria knocked back two cultural heritage management plans.
It also copped a hefty clean-up bill from the EPA after asbestos was found at Dendy Beach, and the heritage protection granted to the bathing boxes at the beach has further complicated the upgrade.
The club’s facilities are also riddled with asbestos and badly in need of an upgrade.
“Councillors suggested children are in danger of being smashed by asbestos,” Liberal candidate for Brighton James Newbury said.
“I urge the council to scrap its plan to commercialise the beach and simply upgrade the clubhouse in time for summer.”
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