Tavern talk

There is a lot of chatter across Unley about Council giving $10,000 to help the Hyde Park Tavern with its $370k redevelopment. For the record, I did NOT support it. A worthy community project in 17/18 will now need to be scrapped to stay within the 17/18 budget. Maybe that work planned for your street (or your park) will need to be scrapped; or maybe the cost of residential parking permits will have to rise.

In this week's Eastern Courier Messenger (03-May-2017) there is a joint letter from Unley Councillors Anthony Lapidge and Rob Sangster. They provide rationale as to why they supported the payment of $10,000 to the pub.

Most of the mainstreets in Unley have a separate rate payable by businesses and traders eg. on Goodwood Road, King William Road and Unley Road, and this separate rate is used to fund local infrastructure and promotional activities to help drive local business.
On Goodwood Road and Unley Road, all businesses are included and pay the separate rate. Whereas on King William Road, only shops pay the separate rate; other businesses including the Hyde Park Tavern are excluded. A stupid anomaly that must be fixed by the King William Road traders' association; an association that represents the whole street.

Where I'm going with this, is that the Hyde Park Tavern does not pay the separate rate; it is excluded by the local traders' association. Yet, the pub sought Council funding for its planned redevelopment. Over the years, the pub would have saved $30k by not having to pay the separate rate.

Here's a list of hotels that do NOT pay a separate traders rate:

• Arkaba
• Parkside Hotel
• Earl of Leicester
• Hyde Park Tavern

and here's a list of hotels that DO pay the separate traders rate:

• BoHo Unley
• Cremorne
• Goodwood Park

A good decision to fund the Hyde Park Tavern?
I don't think so.