The Downs Hotel is fighting TRC over a $6600 Covid-19 breach fine

The Toowoomba licensed venue has refused to pay the $6672 fine and will fight Toowoomba Regional Council in court. Details:

A COURT showdown between a Toowoomba hotel and the Toowoomba Regional Council over a $6672 Covid-19 breach fine has taken a step closer with both parties appearing in court.

Management of the Downs Hotel in Drayton has refused to pay the fine imposed by council in 2020, and both parties appeared before Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Thursday for a mention.

Solicitor Harrison Humphries, of Clifford Gouldson Lawyers, on behalf of the Toowoomba Regional Council, told the court the defendant, Downs Hotel Toowoomba Pty Ltd, needed more time to prepare for the hearing and sought an adjournment.

Downs Hotel owner Simon Thompson confirmed that was the case, saying, “That’s correct”.

At an earlier mention in November last year, Mr Thompson had told the court he pleaded not guilty to the charge of “failing to comply with a Covid-19 public health direction – CHO” as the charge appeared on the court papers.

Mr Thompson had been handed an infringement notice for a $6672 fine in October 2020.

The notice came after officers from the Queensland Police Service, Toowoomba Regional Council, Queensland Health and Queensland Liquor Licensing inspected the Downs Hotel in 2020.

They alleged they found two bistro dining chairs had been placed back-to-back at different tables but were less than 1.5 metres apart, and in the public bar there were allegedly three tables placed less than 1.5 metres apart.

Mr Thompson sought a review of the fine, but it was upheld leaving the parties to fight it out in court.

After the brief mention of the matters on Thursday, Magistrate Kay Philipson adjourned the case for another hearing mention back in the same court on February 17 when it was expected a date for hearing would be set.