Permit grants liquor licence extension

A Warragul café has been granted planning permission to cater for more patrons and extend its liquor licence.

Frankie’s Café, which originally began at 4 Palmerston St has since expanded into abutting tenancies at 6 to 8 Palmerston St and 28 Victoria St.

The cafe has now expanded into another adjoining commercial tenancy at 26B Victoria St.

The original planning permit allowed for 148 patrons and the consumption of alcohol at its original premises.

Council approved the proposal to extend the liquor licence and alcohol trading areas to cater for the Victoria St premises.

The application also sought to rectify discrepancies in previous consents to align with the current liquor license for 148 patrons.

Officers told council the café has operated with this discrepancy for many year and there had been no complaints or investigations.

A report to council said the current specified trading hours were: Sundays 10am to 11pm; Good Friday and Anzac day noon to 11pm; any other day 7am to 11pm.

The planning permit was amended in 2015 to extend the trading area for alcohol into the adjoining Palmerston St premises.

“The proposal will facilitate the management and statutory compliance of a growing business.

“The proposed change does not increase the provision of liquor in the area as the premise already benefits from a liquor licence.

Officers said refusing the application would result in non-compliance and difficulty in managing the day-to-day operation of the premise.

Cr Danny Goss said there were no objections to this proposal.

“This is a successful business in Warragul. It employees 43 people and that will increase to over 50 once these extensions are done.

He said the business committed more than $1.3 million in wages to the local economy.

Cr Goss said this application would enable the café to meet community demand. “Applications like this do a lot of community good,” he said.

Cr Michael Leaney said this application fixed up an anomaly between the liquor licence and planning permit for the site.

“This is an important business for the hospitality industry,” he said.

Cr Leaney said this planning permit amendment allowed for more alfresco dining, which was exactly what council wanted to encourage with the new streetscape works.

“It gets more people dining in the street and creating an atmosphere in Warragul,” he said.