By NOEL MURPHY
PLANS for a small wine bar in Geelong West are being revved up again after they were KO’d by City Hall over concerns of hotel-sized crowds and traffic problems.
An online petition has been launched by Bottle and Barrels, which presently runs a drive-through bottle shop on Aberdeen Street, to solicit support for what co-owner Matt Baird says is essentially a small café.
“Because we have a bottle shop, our application is lumped in with general hotels and people are concerned about anti-social behaviour,” he told the Independent.
“But this is all about being respectful to the residential area and not having a negative impact on the community.”
The Bottle and Barrels plan is for a small wine bar which would cater for 30 people and close at 9pm. Mr Baird is a nearby resident himself.
“We’re just after a tasteful crowd that enjoys a nice glass wine rather than trying to fill people up with booze and send them onto street,” he said.,
“We’re a little frustrated that a group of people and the council can’t see what were trying to achieve.
“This is exactly like a café and I’ve been speaking to cafes — they’re licensed to serve up to 11 at night in Pako and close to residential areas.
“We’d be virtually the same. We’d be doing coffees in the morning, that sort of thing, a bit of food — meats cheeses — and we’d be a comfortable environment for a drink, that’s all.”
LINK: www.bottlesandbarrels.com.au
