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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 7 Hansard (26 June) . . Page.. 2194 ..

Licensed Premises - Occupancy Loadings

MR OSBORNE: My question is to the Attorney-General, once again. Minister, I heard a rumour today and I was wondering whether you could tell me whether it is true. The rumour is that the Liquor Licensing Board this week took action against a licensee for a breach of occupancy loadings. I cannot tell you the source of this information, Minister; but, if this rumour is true, could you tell me which licensee was dealt with and what penalty was handed down by the board? As I said, it is only a rumour, but could you confirm whether it is true or not?

Mr Kaine: You are starting to sound like the Labor Party.

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, unlike the rumours perpetrated by the Labor Party, this one is true. I can confirm that the Liquor Licensing Board has fined a company in Civic, the Inner City Inn known as Pandora's. Last Monday it fined the licensee of that enterprise $3,000 for exceeding the determined occupancy loading for the upstairs part of the premises, the disco part. The liquor licensing inspectors alleged before the board that on the evening of 24 April this year and the early morning of 25 April, Anzac Day, the upstairs part of the premises, which has a loading of 344 people, was occupied by 555 people. That is a fairly serious matter. It is not the first offence of overcrowding that has been proven against the licensee of the Inner City Inn, and the board has previously reprimanded and severely reprimanded the licensee for exceeding the occupancy loading.

There are two comments worth making about that. One is that this is the first time, I believe, that the Liquor Licensing Board has used the powers which the Assembly conferred last year to be able to impose penalties, rather than some other body, and I think it has proven to be effective in this case. Secondly, Mr Speaker, it does indicate that there is still a problem, regrettably, with licensees in this city understanding that there are issues to do with the law of this Territory, the breach of which is not going to be tolerated. I think we have to send a message to those licensees that this community expects a high standard. Packing more than 200 extra people into those premises which have a capacity for a certain number of people is quite unacceptable. This is, I hope, only the tip of an iceberg if those sorts of premises continue to flout the law in that way.

Soccer Centre - McKellar

MS HORODNY: My question is to the Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning and it relates to the proposed soccer stadium at McKellar. I understand that the first draft of the lease for section 71, McKellar, for the soccer stadium contained a number of clauses as promised by you at various meetings with residents. These clauses were designed to minimise the impact of the soccer stadium on the local residents. In particular, one clause limited the use of the stadium at night to Friday and Saturday until such time as actual noise levels can be measured. Secondly, there was a clause to ensure that a minimum number of permanent parking spaces were provided on the basis of one car park for four spectators, which ensured about 2,000 car parking spaces.

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