Sando rallies to keep its doors open

The Sandringham Hotel is organising a rally in a bid to keep its door open for local bands and their fans.

In efforts to drum up support, the Hotel held a fundraising night for the rally on August 17 and is inviting its Facebook followers to put up videos in support of the Hotel.

Ross Waraker, spokesperson for the Sandringham Hotel, hopes the rally will make a difference.

“We can’t guess the impact [of the rally], but we certainly believe in that people power can make a difference,” he said.

“There have been a lot of activities on a number of fronts, including politicians at local, state and federal levels.”

Waraker also said they had received a letter of support from the Labor Federal Member for Sydney Tanya Plibersek MP, in which Plibersek pledged her support for the local, live music scene.

The planned rally is modelled after a similar rally organised for the Tote Hotel in Melbourne in 2010, when it was ruled as a “high risk” venue because of live performances. The rally resulted in a change to Victorian liquor laws and a subsequent re-opening of the Tote.

According to Jon Perring, owner of the Tote Hotel, the attention the rally attracted had a significant impact.

“A lot of it was social media, but there was extensive coverage in the press in Melbourne as well.  Particularly in The Age, which was ranning legal articles on the issue,” he said. “The campaign wasn’t focused 100 per cent around the Hotel, it was part of…a bigger political picture.”

Perring said both the Totes and the Sandringham have the tradition of supporting local musicians.

“Each time this sort of situation happens, it just shows how vulnerable our culture is to external forces.”

The Hotel went into receivership in July after the owner, Tony Townsend, failed to meet the monthly payment for the Hotel’s creditor, Bankwest.

A Bankwest spokesperson said receivers were appointed because Townsend did not take the necessary steps to resolve his financial situation.

“The customer was in default throughout 2009 and 2010 but, despite this, the Bank granted Mr Townsend extensions over a significant period of time to give him the opportunity to refinance,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“Given the importance of the Sandringham Hotel to the local area, [the receivers] will take all the possible steps to ensure the business continues to operate as usual during this time.”

The rally will be held on August 26 at noon in Sydney Park, followed by a march to the Sandringham Hotel.