A SPORTS bar will be built on Mordialloc’s Main St after clinching a controversial extra-time win at VCAT.
A three-level Sporting Globe and Grill bar, with a maximum capacity of 450 patrons and open-air rooftop bar, will be built at 590 Main St despite 161 community objections to the bar.
Kingston councillors unanimously voted to reject the planning application late last year (“Sports bar on the outer”, The News 7/12/16) but the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal effectively overruled council last month to give the sports bar the go ahead.
Objectors raised concerns about anti-social behaviour, littering, a lack of car parking spaces in Main St and the sports bar having no loading bay for deliveries.
Empire State Holdings Pty Ltd was granted permission to build a Sporting Globe bar after VCAT senior member Margaret Baird decided in a 51-page ruling that “the proposal will add to entertainment options on offer and may complement the maritime/event focus” of the Mordialloc Activity Centre.
“It is not possible for a licensee to manage patron behaviour well beyond the site’s environs,” Ms Baird said in the ruling.
“No-one can guarantee that there will not be incidents associated with existing licensed premises or the proposed tavern. I accept submissions by residents that there have been incidents of inappropriate behaviour including aggressive conversations, littering and, potentially, more offensive and/or violent alcohol-fuelled behaviour.”
The nearby Woolworths supermarket also opposed the construction of the sports bar on car parking grounds but VCAT noted: “The Woolworths car park serves the public and not just its customers.”
Ms Baird believed there would be ample car parking available for bar patrons but did note “high parking demands occur” during December to February.
Mordialloc resident and objector Paul Cahir slammed the VCAT decision.
“If you think you have difficulty finding a parking spot in Mordialloc shopping centre now, just wait till this Sporting Globe tavern opens,” he said.
“It’s going to attract the wrong demographic, with lots of young males with hot cars to Mordialloc to watch major sports from around Australia and around the world – AFL, Superbowl, cage-fighting.
“Victoria Police will need to be on alert to sort out the mayhem. Shoppers might have to shop elsewhere to get a park.”
VCAT stated it could not “explore community concerns with online betting, gambling and gaming” in relation to a TAB outlet operating at the Sporting Globe venue.
Alcohol and gambling licences are provided by the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation.
The existing AKL Discount Store in Main St will be partly demolished to build the new sports bar.
Empire State Holdings operates several Sporting Globe and Grill bars around Victoria — including in Richmond, Fountain Gate and Moonee Ponds — where sports fans can watch big game action on big screens.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 3 May 2017
