Tavern feud divides the Mandurah community

The tavern is to be located in vacant lot 5, right in the heart of the canal estate, and has divided the community and caused neighbour fights since it was first brought to council late last year.

Under the current residential zoning, the empty building could host a restaurant.

But applicant Lo Zucchero sought council approval to obtain a tavern license to establish a restaurant-looking tavern with seating areas for patrons, a stand-up bar, and take-away craft beer and wine for sale.

The most contentious point of the proposed development was the establishment of a micro-brewery on site in order to brew the take-away alcohol to sell.

Port Quays residents were mostly concerned about the loss of amenity in the area due to anti-social behaviour, littering and drinking.

They were also concerned about an increase in noise in the area, the smell of the brewing on site, and insufficient parking facilities.

The issue also divided the City’s councillors between those supporting granting approval and those against.

They decided to give the green light to the tavern on Tuesday night on a seven to five vote, but with a set of strict conditions and regulations put in place to minimise the impact on nearby properties.

The successful motion, moved by councillor Caroline Knight, prohibited any brewing or fermentation on site, limited the beer tanks to storage only, and prohibited the sale of packaged beer or wine for take-away.

It also established that the applicant had to purchase a block next to the tavern to provide parking for the patrons for the application to be successful. 

The motion aimed to shed as much council control over the development as possible, and avoid the developer taking the application through the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) and getting it approved without any restrictions in place.

A Port Quays resident opposing the development who didn’t want to be named said the neighbours were deeply disappointed by the outcome and said these sort of decisions were destroying Mandurah.

He said the councillors who stood against the development were to be thanked, but overall the council had shown a bias towards the applicant.

“You come to Mandurah to retire and this is what they chuck on your plate,” he said.

“They [City] don’t give a s**t about the residents, and they’ve showed us that.

“It’s very disappointing.”