Mouse Proof Brewing lodges expansion to Toowoomba council in hopes of wrapping up court battle

The owners of a popular Toowoomba brewery and live music venue are hoping a new submission to council will help resolve an ongoing court battle.

Professor John Bennett from Mouse Proof Brewing. Picture: Nev Madsen.

A craft brewery and live music bar on the edge of the Toowoomba CBD has lodged new plans with the council to expand its venue, in a move it hopes will resolve an ongoing legal battle.

Mouse Proof Brewing this month submitted a development application to extend its bar, which is located inside the old Downs Co-operative Dairy Association Limited factory.

According to the new plans, the expansion would add another 284 sqm of outdoor dining space, including more than 200 sqm on the ground floor and another 77 sqm on the upper deck.

The application also includes “minor building work” to create disability-accessible ramps and a change of building classification.

Professor John Bennett from Mouse Proof Brewing, soon to open in Brook St. Thursday, July 15, 2021. Picture: Nev Madsen.

According to the report by Revolution Town Planning’s Peter Swan, the submission was made in response to a show cause notice (and enforcement notice) issued by the council in September over an alleged “development offence”, where it threatened the venue with a fine of nearly $15,000.

The council argued Mouse Proof had not obtained a “certificate of classification” to prove the areas being used for the brewery were lawfully classed to be used as such.

Venue owner and academic Professor John Bennett then appealed the notice in the planning and environment court, maintaining that the use of the premises was “lawful or, in the alternative, to the extent they are not lawful (which is not admitted), are capable of being remedied”.

The venue remains open during this process, with the enforcement notice stayed until the appeal is resolved.

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) conferencing was completed between the two parties in February, with the ADR registrar describing the meeting as “positive”.

Mouse Proof Brewing.

Mr Swan argued in his planning report an approval of the new application would help resolve the matter.

“The proposed material change of use includes only minor Building work and represents an innovative re-use of the State Heritage Place for a use which is compatible with the existing mixed use of the land,” he wrote.

“The proposed development, if approved, may also assist resolving (the) appeal.”

Prof Bennett was contacted for comment.

Mouse Proof was opened in 2021 by Prof Bennett along with Ned Skehan, Mal Campbell, David West, Job King and Dr Stirling Roberton, on the back of significant success at the 2020 Queensland Amateur Brewing Championships.