Jobs at risk

The City said it did not support the club’s application for a tavern, as it could affect existing and future residents by way of noise annoyance, disturbances or other inconveniences.

A group of nearby residents had complained that they did not want a tavern near their homes and that excessive noise had been made from functions at the golf course.

The course now looks likely to be granted an application for a reception centre, with the recommendation to adapt the Town Planning Scheme to permit a reception centre passed by the City’s planning and engineering services committee 3-2.

The adaptation will now be voted on at next Tuesday evening’s council meeting and if adopted, will allow a 42-day trial period.

However, Secrets Golf head professional and licensee Mitch Roberts said the club had been instructed by the Department of Racing, Gaming and Liquor WA (DRGL) to seek a tavern license instead of their preferred option for a restaurant license to remain sustainable.

‘We applied for a tavern license as the golf course faces sustainability challenges and we sought different revenue streams to remain sustainable,’ he told the committee meeting.

‘We originally wanted to change the conditions to our current special facility license to allow us to serve alcohol ancillary to a meal so we applied for a restaurant license.

‘But were told by DRGL we were more akin to a tavern and they told us to proceed that way.’

As the golf course is a public use course rather than a member-run facility, they have a special facility license rather than a club license and therefore needed to seek a change in licence to serve alcohol.

The club initially lodged its application to change its license in March 2011 and Mr Roberts said the staff redundancies could have been avoided if a decision on the matter had been reached sooner.

‘We don’t want to be a tavern, but we are being forced into a situation where unless we can improve our hospitality business, the golf course is difficult to sustain,’ he said.