Pubs around Victoria have embraced the easing of restrictions, with some of the State’s major players eager to welcome patrons back, while the Andrews’ government’s tight controls keep many closed.
One of the largest groups in the country, Australian Venue Co (AVC) triumphantly opened all its Victorian pubs at first opportunity, on Wednesday.
“We are thrilled to be trading again and are so grateful for the support of our locals,” said Paul Waterson, AVC CEO.
“It’s been heartening to walk through the pubs this week and see them humming again. Our teams are so excited to be back at work pouring beers and serving parmas!
“It feels like Melbourne is slowly coming back to life, the phones have been ringing off the hook with customers who are keen to get into the venues and celebrate with friends and family.”
Sand Hill Road, award-winning publicans of nine venues throughout Melbourne, had to be more strategic about getting its operations back up to speed after seven months dark.
The amazing Espy in St Kilda was feeling the most pent-up demand and is now open again along with SHR’s pubs the Terminus and Post Office (Posty), while the rest will cautiously resume over the coming two weeks.
“We’re just opening everything we can with the resources we’ve got,” says director Andy Mullins. “It’s going to take some time and patience to build things up again.”
COVID restrictions in Victoria currently dictate up to 20 people inside and 50 people in outdoor areas, subject to social distancing of one person per four square metres.
The Victorian Government suggests the limits are slated to be increased to 40 indoors and 70 outdoors from 8 November, which operators are saying can’t come soon enough.
Dozens of larger venues across Melbourne are keeping their doors closed due to low caps on numbers, saying it is simply not viable to trade.
ALH Group has displayed billboards lamenting the low numbers, and this week posted a generic message on social media pages informing its Melbourne pubs won’t be reopening at least until the restrictions ease further, citing the same reason.
“We’re working through our reopening plan and hope to bring you good news on November 9.”
The Australian Hotels Association (AHA) describes the reopening announcement as a “façade” and says the reality is that many licensed venues will not reopen yet, keeping staff unemployed and businesses unable to pay the bills.
“75 per cent of Victoria’s pubs will remain closed unless more reasonable limits are allowed,” offered AHA National CEO Stephen Ferguson. “This extreme limit on venue capacity will not result in many people returning to work.”
The Association notes all Victorian hotels now have COVID-Safe plans and systems in place to ensure a safe environment for both patrons and staff, including digital contact tracing, COVID Marshalls, heightened cleaning and trained staff.
The State Government had previously pronounced an initiative to convert a lot of public areas around venues, such as footpaths and carparks, into usable outdoor floorspace, but the reality of this in Melbourne is somewhat more difficult than simply saying it will be so.
Mullins says Melbourne’s hospitality culture is buried in its crowded laneways, where many nightclubs and small bars simply don’t have an option of absorbing space outside.
“It’s probably going to take a vaccine or elimination before we see the real fabric of Melbourne shining again,” he suggests.
Meanwhile, just days before the iconic Melbourne Cup, there are few controls on gatherings in large public places, and after more than half a year locked up many residents of the city are ready to cut loose.
Yet venues, already accustomed to working within strict guidelines and newly geared to diligently collect details via QR code of every person that walks through the door, will be turning people away at the doors as small numbers hunker on the premises.
Operators pose they should be allowed the same setting as in NSW – particularly when Victorian numbers are lower than NSW. Victoria stands to benefit from the hindsight and lessons learned in other states, and should surely be allowed to follow best-practice already established around the country.
SHR reports profits are still a “long way away” and is not seeking to profiteer on the eagerness of patrons, but argues they are licensed venues for a reason.
“They’d be better off bringing those people into our venues, where we’ve got the systems and processes to manage the risk they’re worried about, so we can protect the community that’s going out anyway,” poses Mullins.
“We’re so ready for that.”
