Hudson Gallery could be forced to close if the Liquor Licensing Court decides to uphold a request by a local resident to halve the number of patrons permitted to visit the popular art gallery at one time.
It’s a condition proprietor Dominic Lalor says would make the venue commercially defunct.
The liquor licensing dispute is the result of a noise complaint by King Street resident Anne Apthrop.
The director of liquor licensing, Hugh Highman, has also lodged an intervention, even though he approved for 200 people to be allowed to frequent the venue.
The liquor licensing case concluded last week and a decision by Justice Rodney Greaves is pending.
Ms Apthorp’s lawyer, Dan Mossenson, told the liquor licensing court the venue was not trading as outlined in its original liquor licence application for a modern art gallery and was instead functioning as a bar. Mr Lalor said the gallery always intended to have a bar ancillary to the gallery and, more importantly, it would subsidise the gallery’s operation.
Last year Ms Apthorp lodged an objection to Murray Street pub Belgian Beer Café Westende’s application to alter its alfresco licence.
The owners, Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group, wanted to allow patrons to sit in its alfresco area and consume alcohol without the requirement to have a meal, as is the condition inside the premises.
Mr Highman, in outlining his decision to grant the variation, noted Ms Apthorp had indicated that King Street was an art area with a growing residential character and there would be a propensity for patrons to congregate in groups and that the situation would become difficult to control.
