Image: Old Fitzroy Hotel Facebook
The Old Fitzroy Hotel in Woolloomooloo, also known as The Old Fitz, has regained approval for outdoor dining.
Following a public appeal from the pub on the petition website change.org, the Old Fitzroy Hotel can once again have outdoor dining until 10 pm, after an “error” reduced it to 8 pm.
The Old Fitzroy Hotel was built over 150 years ago. Billed as Australia’s last surviving theatre pub, the Old Fitz Theatre is located in the basement.
‘Glad They’ve Been Able To Work Through It’
In a message on Instagram, Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, shared the “wonderful news”.
“Wonderful news: Following their review, staff have approved outdoor dining to 10 pm at @theoldfitz.”
Moore continued, “Some of you would have seen the news last week that staff had recommended rolling their outdoor dining hours back two hours.
“The Lord Mayor and Councillors don’t assess and determine individual DAs, but when this outcome came to my attention I asked staff to expedite a review and work productively with the Old Fitz to resolve the matter.
“I’m glad they’ve been able to work through it and approve these operating hours.”
View this post on Instagram
Hour Reduced Following Complaints From Residents
According to the change.org appeal, the Old Fitzroy Hotel received a notice from the City of Sydney on August 16. Following a couple of complaints from local residents, it notified the pub that their licence to have outdoor dining was reduced to 8 pm.
“Our license to operate in our beautiful alfresco dining area has been reduced to 8 pm, despite our longstanding approval of nearly 20 years to operate until 10 pm along Dowling Street. This was done without any consultation with us, in response to the complaint of a neighbouring premises,” the appeal read.
“We’re incredibly disappointed to share this news, as the sudden reduction in hours means guests won’t be able to use our outdoor tables during dinner service each night. This unfortunately means that our popular pool room will now also need to close at 8 pm, as we have nowhere else to store the furniture due to the resulting mismatched operating hours.”
It continued, “We have had several conversations with people at council since Friday, many of whom have indicated that this decision was made in error, however as it has managed to slip through to a determination, our only recourse is to put in an application and wait.”
Moore: We Can Work This Out
View this post on Instagram
When the news broke that the outdoor setting would be reduced by 2 hours, Moore shared in a post to Instagram that the matter would be worked out.
“I’m advised there were some compliance issues, hence the Council officers’ initial recommendation. But I’m sure it’s not beyond us all to work this out,” she wrote.
You May Also Like
Leave a Reply