The fashion label owners of Paddington’s Village Inn have lost their court appeal to convert the site into a flagship store, as the pub’s trade benefits from the community outrage.
Located near the corner of Glenmore Road and Oxford Street, overlooking the unofficial home to some of Australia’s best fashion brands, at The Intersection, the prominent three-level pub was established in 1850. The current building was constructed in 1888, making it the oldest in the precinct, and Woollahra Council list it as an item of local heritage significance.
Previously known as the Rose & Crown Hotel, and Durty Nelly’s, in 2013 it was bought by Brodie Peterson, who curated it into the Village Inn.
In late 2022 founders of fashion brand Alemais, husband and wife Chris Buchanan and Lesleigh Jermanus, paid $6.22 million for the Village, through their vehicle Bowie Ferris Investments P/L. The business was reporting circa $2.1 million in annual revenues.
The couple installed Stehr Hospitality as operators, on a month-to-month lease.
Bowie Ferris submitted a DA to Woollahra Council in August 2023, looking to transform the site from a pub into a mixed-use business, with retail stores at street level below office space on the first and second floors.
The proposal was not popular with the locals, and the Paddington Society led a “Save The Village Inn” campaign on social media and petition on Change.org.
Council received a total of 236 objections, and only three submissions in favour of the project.
In October 2023 Woollahra Planning Panel rejected the application, prompting Bowie Ferris to appeal to the Land & Environment Court.
In its submission at L&E, Bowie Ferris suggested that if its plan is not approved the pub is “likely to cease” and the property “will lay fallow”.
Prominent stakeholders presented against the plaintiffs, including independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich, Woollahra councillor Harriet Price, and Theo Onisforou, fashion entrepreneur and founder and landlord of The Intersection, who previously said if the pub returned to market he would buy it “in a heartbeat” and give Bowie Ferris at least what they paid.
On 29 November L&E Senior Commissioner Susan Dixon handed down a decision, dismissing the appeal on the basis that the plaintiffs had failed to demonstrate that the Village was unviable in its current form.
“While I understand all too well that I cannot force the continuation of the Village Inn’s operation as a pub, in the absence of satisfactory evidence which demonstrates that the existing pub use is unviable, I am not prepared to approve the proposed change of use to a shop as this would adversely impact the primary heritage significance of [it] being its use as a pub.”
Cr Price, an active participant in the campaign to save the Village and speaking independently (of Council) said she was “proud” of the efforts of Paddington residents, who undertook rallies, posted signs, and collected thousands of petition signatures and hundreds of written submissions.
Price called the decision a “huge win” for both heritage conservation and community activism.
Meanwhile, there has been significant movement in the precinct’s retail tenancies over the past year, but activity is building courtesy of the opening of the new football stadium.
The Village Inn is benefiting from the uplift and additional trade during the cooler months, as well as a revived presence in the hearts and minds of the community.
Ben Stehr, principal of Stehr hospitality and new operator at Ultimo’s Glasgow Arms, has previously told PubTIC his team is “loving our time as custodians” at the Inn, and he hopes to lock in a longer lease at some stage.
Bowie Ferris has 28 days to appeal the L&E decision on the grounds of a question of law.
