Councils overseeing Perth’s popular hospitality districts have begun receiving applications for small bars, more than four months since the introduction of new liquor laws designed to bring a more liberal food and wine culture to Western Australia.
Councils overseeing Perth’s popular hospitality districts have begun receiving applications for small bars, more than four months since the introduction of new liquor laws designed to bring a more liberal food and wine culture to Western Australia.
The new applications come as some of WA’s leading restaurateurs consider launching new venues that could include a wine bar element.
Lamont's proprietor Kate Lamont, Bar One and Altos founder Steve Scaffidi, and Must Winebar’s Russell Blaikie are among those looking to open new establishments.
Ms Lamont and Mr Scaffidi are more advanced in their plans, while Mr Blaikie told WA Business News he and his partners would look to develop a new venue in the new year.
Their movement in the sector comes as others start to lodge small bar applications with local councils, which need to grant approval before a liquor licence application can be lodged with the Department of Racing, Gaming and Liquor.
The dual-government process has been criticised as a time-consuming and overly bureaucratic process by some in the hospitality sector.
“There is no doubt that a lack of understanding, particularly by local councils, has slowed the process down,” one hospitality operator said.
Several operators also say a requirement to submit a public interest assessment outlining how the proposed business would impact on the community is cumbersome red tape.
However, several operators are ploughing through the obstacles.
Lavan Legal chairman of partners, Dan Mossenson, said several small bar applications he was working on were almost ready to be lodged, while there were others in the pipeline.
“Numerous clients are investigating possible sites,” Mr Mossenson said. “It is starting to build up momentum.”
It is understood WA’s first small bar, Essex St Organic Wine Bar Cafe, will open in Fremantle this week.
The City of Perth has approved two small bar applications and is assessing another two. WA Business News understands that a fifth small bar is being planned for King Street.
The two approved by the council –1907 in Queen Street and Amphoras in West Perth – are waiting for licensing approval from the Department of Racing, Gaming and Liquor.
The department has also received a small bar application for a venue at Yallingup’s Smith’s Beach.
Meanwhile, The City of Subiaco has received two small bar applications which are yet to be approved. The council, however, is considering banning new liquor licences within 100 metres of the bustling Hay Street and Rokeby Road intersection.
Last week, the Town of Vincent, which incorporates Leederville’s cafe strip and Mount Lawley’s Beaufort Street, received its first submission for a small bar licence, which is likely to become an application if the correct information is contained in the submission.
WA Business News understands there are plans for two small bars along Highgate’s Beaufort Street strip, while another is planned for Leederville.
Ms Lamont said she had been encouraged to develop a new business because the new laws would remove the requirement to prove a public need for the proposed business’s existence, thereby reducing the ability for competing businesses to scuttle new licence applications.
Mr Blaikie said the new laws had broadened the opportunities available to him and his business partners.
