19/09/2026
Hi all, we’d much prefer to see you in person and have a friendly chat over the bar or down at the point but given the level of interest in some modest changes we are trying to implement and comments circulating on some of the facebook groups, particularly those circulating misinformation, we felt the need to jump into the comments here and explain further what we are doing and why. It’s great to have a community around us that is passionate about our town and we appreciate the vigorous debate. Just to make a couple of things really clear:
- Our approved hours of operation and associated licensing hours are not changing. It has been 5am – 12am since the Wombat days in the 80s when the hotel was first built. Most nights things wind down from not long after 9pm, whilst this might push a little later on weekends and holidays it’s rare, nor is it a priority and nothing in the amendments to our liquor license will change this.
- We are first and foremost a hotel and our primary business is high-quality accommodation, and nothing will change here.
- Since we opened, the most consistent feedback and frustration from locals and members of the public have been the requirement to have a meal with a drink when many want to pop in to just have a b**r or a cocktail in the afternoon. The addition of a Primary Service of Alcohol to our license allows us to extend this beyond our hotel guests and is the purpose of this change.
- Principally, we also want to be able to showcase artist talks and exhibitions and film and documentary screenings and other low-impact cultural activations that contribute positively to the visitor experience and local community. To do this requires a change of business type on our license to include “Catering Service”.
- Sale on Other Premises allows for us to work with a small number of operators to bring our food and beverage services to small groups of guests enjoying a property outside of our hotel. This could be a picnic or small curated dinner on a private property for a wedding, birthday or corporate event. We have absolutely no intention of getting into the festival business and bring hordes of people into Crescent Head.
To provide a bit more context and detail here:
We appreciate the high level of interest in our business and particularly the support from the general community since we’ve opened. There’s been a lot of time, energy and investment to building the hotel and we’re not going anywhere. We’ve come quite a long way in a fairly short time and built an amazing team but we’re very patient and committed and we’ll continue to keep improving and embracing the community. We’re not always perfect but we care deeply about this place and strive to make a positive contribution.
Our approved hours of operation and associated licensing hours are not changing. It has been 5am – 12am since the Wombat days in the 80s when the hotel was first built. We generally operate well within these hours and if you pop down from 7am you’ll be able to get a coffee. If you want to come and have a drink with a meal from 12pm you’ll be happily accommodated. Most nights things wind down from not long after 9pm, whilst this might push a little later on weekends and holidays it’s rare, nor is it a priority and nothing in the amendments to our liquor license will change this. The assumption that we can’t trade past 10pm shows we’ve operated well within our bounds and tried to be as respectful as possible when we do trade later.
Notwithstanding our hours of operation are not changing, any assertion that this sets a precedent for Crescent Head to turn into a late-night district or Kings Cross as has been suggested is farfetched. Late night venues are shutting across our cities and Kings Cross is sadly dying. It is not a viable business model. We are first and foremost a hotel and our primary business is high-quality accommodation, and nothing will change here. We are thrilled with the feedback and enjoyment guests have experienced staying with us and encourage them to enjoy other local businesses and generally support the broader community.
Everything we do around the restaurant and trading hours factors this primary business in and our accommodation sits immediately adjacent to the public space. The first people to complain about unreasonable noise or behaviour there are our guests and as well as wanting to be good citizens and neighbours, it is not good for business to have any tolerance towards this. We support live music and have hosted many musicians at the venue. This is done in the context of managing noise with our adjacent rooms and guests dining in our restaurant at the same time. We have one serial complainer around any noise whether it is an acoustic band playing meters from dining guests or our resident local DJ paying mellow old vinal tracks. It is a shame they have taken such an intractable position towards us and they are the chief source of misinformation being circulated in relation to the application. We encourage people to keep an open mind in this respect as to motivations and facts. Regardless, all complaints are logged and addressed and we encourage anyone who ever has an issue with noise or adverse impacts from our guests or venue to contact the team directly at any time.
Running restaurants is hard work and it is very sad to see three restaurants shut down this year in town. We are fortunate to not have to soley rely on this component of our business but equally it is a very important one and the main avenue for us to allow the community to enjoy our hotel. This engagement from the public is at the core of what we believe a hotel should be rather than shutting out the public and just focusing on our hotel guests. Our hotel guests are able to enjoy the facilities and food and beverage offerings free of the general restrictions that are placed on members of the public. Since we opened, the most consistent feedback and frustration from locals and members of the public have been the requirement to have a meal with a drink when many want to pop in to just have a b**r or a cocktail in the afternoon. The addition of a Primary Service of Alcohol to our license allows us to extend this beyond our hotel guests and is the purpose of this change.
Hotel guests can buy out the hotel and hold functions, where the venue is closed to the public. This will happen from time to time but every now and then we want to have some flexibility to operate beyond a pure restaurant for the public and host an event in the restaurant areas of the hotel. Principally, we want to be able to showcase artist talks and exhibitions and film and documentary screenings and other low-impact cultural activations that contribute positively to the visitor experience and local community in a way that doesn’t accord with the layout of our restaurant and being able to move around with a drink in the gallery/ projector space. Anyone who has run a small business can appreciate the mountains of red tape and in the world of liquor and gaming licenses to do this requires a change of business type on our license to include “Catering Service”. Any event is limited to the conditions we already operate under in terms of capacity, hours, and licensed boundaries. There has been misinformation circulated suggesting that we could have 2,000 people in the hotel for an event, which could not be further from the truth nor allowable. It has been taken out of context from a standard reference table for notification periods that anyone with this particular license condition must use with the Licencing Police for an event with a “Catering Service” rather than designating our capacity, which we are not changing.
Our core focus as a high-quality accommodation business seeking to bring experiences beyond our hotel for our guests and support other local business who do not have a commercial kitchen. The Sale on Other Premises allows for us to work with a small number of operators to bring our food a services to small groups of guests enjoying a property outside of our hotel. This could be a picnic or small curated dinner on a private property for a wedding, birthday or corporate event. We have absolutely no intention of getting into the festival business and bring hordes of people into Crescent Head and have more than enough on our hands focused on a high-quality hospitality and cultural programming, which we believe can coexist harmoniously within the local community. For anyone worried about the precedent this sets, there is already nothing stopping someone using a license from Sydney or anywhere else in NSW for larger events should they wish to – we do not.
We have received significant support from the broader community and encouragement to make these changes to the license for some time. We would appreciate any further written support from the silent majority who are behind this and believe in supporting a local business and employer with the proposed licence variations, which is a logical and positive evolution of a professional and well-meaning tourism business. Public submissions will close on the 23rd of September and we encourage everyone to have their say. If you would like assistance in how to lodge or have any questions, please reach out to the team directly or even better, pop in and say hi.
