Capital bar ‘gone in 60 minutes’
A two-year stoush between a Wellington sci-fi bar and their landlords descended into farcical scenes after the owners were evicted and bar staff showed up to find they had just an hour to get their stuff out.
Nina Human, co-owner of Photonflux Eatery & Drinkery, said she was ‘‘so stressed’’ after being ‘‘kicked out’’ on Tuesday by their landlords, understood to be Cho Yam Chan and Julie-anne Daysh. It was the latest flashpoint in what has been an ongoing battle between the two parties since the lease was signed in December 2016.
Ever since then, the landlords have been using the ‘‘system’’ to disrupt Photonflux by doing things like opposing their liquor licence when it was up for renewal in 2018, and not giving consent for the bar to have fibre internet installed, according to bar staff.
Yesterday, Human said a lot of their goods and property were still inside the locked building and she did not have the money to go through the courts to get it back. But when Stuff spoke to Daysh yesterday she challenged Photonflux’s version of events around access to property inside the building, and said it was ‘‘not in the least accurate’’.
‘‘We’ve had a lot of discussions about this matter. We’re obviously aware what’s happening on social media and we’ve made the decision that a no comment is probably our best response.’’
The surprise ultimatum to clear out inside 60 minutes created chaos outside Photonflux on Tuesday as dozens of people pitched in – despite only a handful being allowed inside at a time – to remove the chattels in scenes reminiscent of a shopping spree competition. The police were even called to oversee the operation as people hurriedly removed pinball machines, fake laser guns and beer kegs, among other things. ‘‘In short ... you get two people in this world; you get people that help each other and then you get people who destroy.
‘‘That’s what they are. That’s what has happened,’’ Human said on Tuesday.