After four years, a VCAT hearing and more than $2 million, Kickon Group will shortly open the new permanent beer garden at The Terminus Fitzroy North. For CEO and founder Craig Shearer, it’s more than just the opening of a new space, it’s one of the biggest lessons and hard-fought challenges of his career.
The idea for a permanent beer garden at The Terminus was borne out of Covid. Kickon Group acquired The Terminus Hotel in December 2019, only to have to shut and reopen it multiple times from March 2020 onward. With regulations at the time favouring outdoor spaces, a make-shift beer garden was constructed in the pub’s carpark and drive-through space.
As Covid trading stipulations wound down, Kickon Group began working on plans for a more permanent beer garden for the venue. Located right next door to a couple of apartment buildings, considerable planning went into how the beer garden could co-exist with its neighbours.
The plans met all the building codes and regulations, but Yarra City Council rejected the DA after 55 complaints were lodged by local residents. Shearer felt that the residents hadn’t understood the lengths the group was going to to minimise disruption to its neighbours, and took the matter to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). Kickon Group was eventually allowed to proceed with the build.
Four years on from the first plans for the permanent beer garden, it’s set to open next week.
The beer garden is enclosed with six-metre-high glass ceilings. It has its own bar and bathrooms, and will primarily be used for dining, social gatherings and functions. A lot of soundproofing has gone into the space as well, including an acoustic wall between the beer garden and the neighbouring apartment building to ensure noise disruption is kept to a minimum.
While the beer garden can be viewed as just another renovations of a space within a pub, for Shearer, the odyssey undertaken to get it where it is makes it “one of the most significant pieces of work that we’ve done over our 20-year journey”.
Sticking to your principles
While many people would’ve likely abandoned the project entirely or significantly overhauled it to make it something that would be more palatable to council, Shearer’s connection to the venue is personal, and he wanted to see it through.
“This venue is five minutes from my house. My dad waters the plants in the morning, my daughter picks up the plates at night. It’s a real family business to me, and I intend on owning and operating it for the next 30 years.
“So it was important for me, firstly, to get the approval so that we could operate the business in its full capacity moving forward. But secondly, I think, to take a stand, to show others that sometimes it is worth fighting for.”
Having not been through anything like this before, Shearer said his unfamiliarity with the VCAT process also allowed him to pursue it further.
“One of the key things that enabled me to do that was my ignorance as to how long it would take and how much it would cost. If someone had told me accurately what it would cost and how long it would take to do this, I think I might have baulked at it, but I was too far down the path before I realised what it entailed.
“If you’re halfway across the river before you realise how far it is, do you turn back or do you keep swimming forward?”
Lessons learnt
Shearer acknowledged that had communication and explanation of the project been conveyed to local residents in a different manner in the beginning, the construction would likely have happened more smoothly, and in a timelier and cheaper fashion.
“I think a better collaboration with the residents prior to lodgment would have helped. I mean, this thing should have been finished 18 months ago for a million dollars, and it’s going to be finished 18 months later for over double that. But I think the other thing is, don’t ever give up, right?”
With the beer garden set to open mid-February, Shearer has communicated with local residents throughout the stages of the build, and now they will get a first look at the venue prior to the opening official opening.
“The first thing that we’re having is a practice session this Sunday where I’ve invited all the residents from next door to come along and have a look at the space, meet me, have a drink and let me know any concerns that they might have so that we can make sure that the relationship starts again on the right foot.”
A path forward for pubs and communities
Shearer believes the beer garden at The Terminus will improve the local area amenity in Fitzroy North, and that this project will also show that local corner pubs can co-exist with neighbours, at a time when it’s increasingly difficult to operate corner pubs near residences.
“This is not a new issue in Melbourne or in most parts of Australia, that residents are located close to some of the most beautiful old pubs that we have. We’ve all heard stories of pubs that have stood for 150 years that have been turned into apartments because they weren’t able to have live music, or they weren’t able to operate the space profitably without impacting neighbors.”
The CEO expressed empathy for residents in urban areas living near pubs, as well as a willingness to seek solutions that would allow pubs and residents to co-exist peacefully.
“I think if there’s a bit of imagination, if there’s a bit of cooperation on both sides, then things like this [the Termi’s beer garden] can happen, and people can live next to those beautiful old pubs.
“I just think the corner pub is an intrinsic part of the local community. We’re the ones that put footy jumpers on your kids’ backs. We’re the ones that donate to raffles. We’re the ones that hire your children when they enter university, and we’re the place where you meet for the good and bad times of your life. So this is a problem that needs solving so that we can keep hold of the beautiful little pubs scattered right across our country.”
With the Terminus beer garden project complete, Shearer believes it was worth the time, expense and effort put into it.
“It’s really beautiful. I’m really proud of it, and I can’t wait for people to see it. It’s just going to be a great space for everyone to enjoy.”