Bars battling restrictions
tom.gillespie@thechronicle.com.au
VENUES and pubs in the Toowoomba CBD are finally getting back to full speed again, but social distancing laws are still providing plenty of headaches for owners.
Live music is back in the city centre, with several venues booking entertainment for Friday and Saturday nights as part of attracting patrons back into the city.
Bar Wunder owner Fiona Davis said she was thrilled to see people returning for a drink in her venue, after it closed for two months during the height of COVID-19.
She said while having restrictions was a better situation than another shutdown, they were creating some unique issues.
“There’s always live music on a Sunday afternoon, and we’ve started re-adding those popular weekly events from before,” Ms Davis said.
“We are at COVID-19 capacity constantly, we haven’t had one event that hasn’t been popular.
“Having to police it has been very tiring, because our staff can only do so many things at once.
“People are still getting used to the idea that they book in advance, but bookings have their own world of pain.
“On a Sunday afternoon, the music starts at 3pm and there was a booking at 4pm, so we had to have an empty table just sitting there.”
Ms Davis said the venue obtained a $10,000 business grant from the Federal Government, which would help to promote future attractions as restrictions keep lifting.
“We also got some staff on JobKeeper, which has been very useful,” she said.
“The food and liquor licensing costs have been halved and there was an electricity rebate as well, so a lot of those things have been really helpful.”