NEWS DESK
Sports bar’s big win on appeal Neil Walker neil@baysidenews.com.au
Blind taste: Blindfolded guests gets a taste of what it’s like to be blind at the dinner table.
Dark dinner vision for charity DINING out when you’re blind or have low vision is much more complex than just finding the food on your plate. To demonstrate this, Vision Australia has developed a fundraiser for blindness and low-vision services: Dinner in the Dark will be held at Doyle’s Bridge Hotel, Mordialloc, 7pm, Saturday 20 May. The organisation’s south-east regional manager Janet Lloyd-McNelis says people with a vision impairment face many challenges when eating at a restaurant. “A lot of our clients can find it quite challenging if the lighting is poor, or the printing on the menu is too small or hard to read, the restaurant is hard to navigate and if you can’t see what’s on your plate,” Ms Lloyd-McNelis said. “It can be embarrassing, especially if you’ve suffered recent vision loss.” Dinner in the Dark guests are blindfolded
or given goggles to simulate one of a range of vision conditions. “This shows everyone in the sighted community some of the logistical difficulties that people with a vision impairment face every time they do something as simple as going out for a meal.” Money raised supports Vision Australia services for those who are blind or have low vision. The organisation is Australia’s largest provider of services to the blind and low vision community. It offers the services of occupational, orientation and mobility specialists, assistive technology consultants, support for My Aged Care and National Disability Insurance Scheme and access to physical activities and social groups. Tickets for Dinner in the Dark are $65 per person, or $55 per person for bookings of four people or more. Bookings close 13 May. Call 8791 0201 or email dandenong@visionaustralia. org
A SPORTS bar will be built on Mordialloc’s Main St after clinching a controversial extra-time win at VCAT. A three-level Sporting Globe and Grill bar, with a maximum capacity of 450 patrons and open-air rooftop bar, will be built at 590 Main St despite 161 community objections to the bar. Kingston councillors unanimously voted to reject the planning application late last year (“Sports bar on the outer”, The News 7/12/16) but the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal effectively overruled council last month to give the sports bar the go ahead. Objectors raised concerns about anti-social behaviour, littering, a lack of car parking spaces in Main St and the sports bar having no loading bay for deliveries. Empire State Holdings Pty Ltd was granted permission to build a Sporting Globe bar after VCAT senior member Margaret Baird decided in a 51page ruling that “the proposal will add to entertainment options on offer and may complement the maritime/event focus” of the Mordialloc Activity Centre. “It is not possible for a licensee to manage patron behaviour well beyond the site’s environs,” Ms Baird said in the ruling. “No-one can guarantee that there will not be incidents associated with existing licensed premises or the proposed tavern. I accept submissions by residents that there have been incidents of inappropriate behaviour including aggressive conversations,
littering and, potentially, more offensive and/or violent alcohol-fuelled behaviour.” The nearby Woolworths supermarket also opposed the construction of the sports bar on car parking grounds but VCAT noted: “The Woolworths car park serves the public and not just its customers.” Ms Baird believed there would be ample car parking available for bar patrons but did note “high parking demands occur” during December to February. Mordialloc resident and objector Paul Cahir slammed the VCAT decision. “If you think you have difficulty finding a parking spot in Mordialloc shopping centre now, just wait till this Sporting Globe tavern opens,” he said. “It’s going to attract the wrong demographic, with lots of young males with hot cars to Mordialloc to watch major sports from around Australia and around the world – AFL, Superbowl, cage-fighting. “Victoria Police will need to be on alert to sort out the mayhem. Shoppers might have to shop elsewhere to get a park.” VCAT stated it could not “explore community concerns with online betting, gambling and gaming” in relation to a TAB outlet operating at the Sporting Globe venue. Alcohol and gambling licences are provided by the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation. The existing AKL Discount Store in Main St will be partly demolished to build the new sports bar. Empire State Holdings operates several Sporting Globe and Grill bars around Victoria — including in Richmond, Fountain Gate and Moonee Ponds — where sports fans can watch big game action on big screens.
Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News 3 May 2017
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