City defeats Empire

The (First) Empire Hotel’s two new development applications have been shot down simultaneously by Sydney City Council on the grounds of the venue’s lack of credibility.
The Kings Cross hotel proposed to convert the downstairs sports bar into a licensed café with an unenclosed outdoor area for seating on Roslyn Street, and also to construct a roof top bar.
Council unanimously voted against the applications on Monday night, stating tht the premises had a poor management history.
Liberal Councillor Shayne Mallard said that the roof top terrace at first seemed an effective means of taking smokers off the streets. However, he said its maximum capacity of 13 patrons erased this prospect.
“Only 13 people can only be let out there and the place can hold hundreds and hundreds,” he said.
“So really I just thought it was the little kid in the dyke, with his finger in the hole of the wall, it’s not going to make much of a difference to it.”
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said she had no confidence in the venue considering their past conduct. “It’s the same premises, it’s the same issues,” she said.
Other Councillors echoed her sentiments. Labor Councillor Meredith Burgmann called it a bad venue with a bad history and no serious plan of managament. Councillor Di Tornei refused on the venue’s record of bad behaviour: “The issue is credibility here.”
The application was also refused on the grounds of claims that the area has already received a saturation of licensed premises.