Hawthorn cafe gets green light to open for dinner with petition

3 months ago 16

A cafe in Hawthorn that has attracted a host of famous faces will soon open for dinner after the local council gave the later hours the green light, against officer advice and objections from some neighbours.

Boroondara council voted on Monday night to issue an amended permit to the Barton Milk Bar after owner James Laskie applied to extend trading hours from 4pm to 10pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Ted Baillieu (top right, inset) backs cafe owner James Laskie’s plan to open the Barton Milk Bar for dinner.

Laskie’s cafe has become a popular spot for notable Melburnians since it opened in the affluent inner-eastern neighbourhood six years ago. It was in the headlines last August when Carlton coach Michael Voss chased down youths who flipped a stolen car outside.

Former premier and ex-Hawthorn MP Ted Baillieu recently spoke out in favour of the cafe’s plan to open for dinner, which was also supported by 267 signatories to a petition that Laskie organised.

But during the planning process, 23 objectors raised their concerns about increased activity in the designated Neighbourhood Residential Zone, just north of Burwood Road and Hawthorn train station.

Council officers subsequently recommended against Barton Milk Bar’s plan.

But on Monday night, elected councillors voted 9-1 to support an alternative motion allowing the venue to open until 10pm.

The lone dissenter was councillor Lisa Hollingsworth, who had moved a motion for the cafe to close at 9pm instead. Councillor Rob Baillieu declared a conflict of interest and did not vote.

Before the decision, six residents spoke in favour of the six-hour trading extension, including former Labor MP for Hawthorn John Kennedy, who lives in a retirement home close by.

Another supporter, Montserrat Pezzimenti, pointed out the Whitehorse Inn Hotel used to operate at the nearby corner of Barton Street and Burwood Road for years.

Jim Ryan, the former publican of the Whitehorse Inn, stands outside his hotel in 2004. More than two decades later, Barton Milk Bar applied to open for dinner about 150 metres further back from Burwood Road.

Another speaker, Jayden Battey, added: “I dare say that the impact of this pub would’ve been significantly different from the few extra hours having dinner at Barton cafe.”

Pezzimenti also said of Barton Milk Bar’s proposed closing time: “This is 10 o’clock, for God’s sake. It’s not one, two or three in the morning.”

Five other speakers, however, urged councillors to stick with the officers’ recommendation and block the trading extension.

Key concerns included noise from patrons and vehicles, traffic and parking congestion, disruption to the “quiet and family-orientated character” of the area, and antisocial behaviour stemming from alcohol being served.

The Barton Milk Bar on the corner of Denham and Barton Streets.

One opposing neighbour, with a one-year-old baby, shares a wall with the venue. She previously told The Age she could hear conversations, music and banging already, and feared noise from diners with alcohol would be intolerable at night.

“It is intrusive and completely unacceptable in a quiet residential street,” said Courtney Irvine, another Denham Street objector who spoke at Monday’s council meeting.

James Laskie outside his cafe on Thursday.

Another nearby resident, John Bortoli, complained about footpath congestion and the smell of bacon from the cafe wafting into his backyard in the morning.

“It may be acceptable for commercial areas, but it’s not acceptable here,” he said.

Laskie, the cafe owner, argued his venue would not become a boozy bar. Instead, he said it would finish a dinner service before 9pm, allowing time to clean before a 10pm close.

“Whether it is just summertime when we do this, we’re not sure. But to allow us in the permit to be able to do that is – I think – not asking too much,” he said.

After a lengthy discussion, councillors briefly adjourned the meeting to draft an alternative motion that backed the trading hours extension.

It added a clause requiring all restaurant closure activities be completed by 10pm.

Mayor Sophie Torney said concerns about noise and late-night behaviour were legitimate but that the business wasn’t a nightclub and she supported extended trading hours.

“Balancing residential amenity with the needs of a growing urban centre is not always easy,” she said. “But I believe we can support Barton café whilst protecting those living nearby.”

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