Owners of the Federal Hotel and the Hammond & Wheatley building met with council staff on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the privately owned but publicly important car park behind their properties.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Last week, the car park was on the front page of the Courier-Sun after a refrigerated truck making a delivery to Kombu Wholefoods had to be towed out of potholes in which it had become stranded.
Michael Sutherland, who has shares in a unit trust that owns the Federal Hotel, and Avi Shaul, who bought the Hammond and Wheatley building three years ago after leasing it for 17 years, said their talks with council went well but negotiations are still continuing.
Avi said the complexities of who is responsible for the car park go back to arrangements that the late Barry Smith entered into with Bellingen Shire Council more than two decades ago.
“He owned four buildings here and he did a deal with council,” Avi said.
Last week, council’s Matt Fanning said that the legal structures governing the use of the car park were complex and that council was hoping to untie some of the legal knots that had been created back in 1994.
Multiple businesses, including the Federal Hotel, Hearthfire Bakery, Hammond & Wheatley, IGA, Kombu Wholefoods, the Brewery, Bellingen Solar Depot and No 5 Church St – not to mention the general public – rely on having access to the space, but the question of who should pay for its maintenance has long been a vexed issue.
Related:
“My interpretation is that people have the right to use the car park if they participate in maintaining it,” Avi said. “That’s my understanding from my lawyers.”
Asked who currently maintains it, Avi said, “Nobody”.
“But we’re working towards a solution so that the car park will be all sealed and maintained.”
Potholes are not the only problem bedevilling the car park.
Vehicles overstay their welcome as parking restrictions are usually not enforced, dumped goods make it look unsightly, rubbish bins obstruct the footpath and access for delivery trucks, particularly along the one-way lane, is difficult and potentially dangerous.
Dave Larson from Hearthfire said his 22 employees cannot get a parking spot and the back door of his bakery has been run into six times.
“We actually considered moving to Coffs,” he said. “Because it’s so difficult to get our vehicles in.”
Bellingen IGA franchisee Rhonda Rowland said since the previous Courier-Sun article appeared dozens of customers have complained to IGA staff, sometimes aggressively, about ‘the IGA car park’.
She stressed that the IGA business rents its premises and the shop’s landlord does not own any of the rear area commonly used as a car park.
- This story has been updated to clarify the Federal Hotel’s ownership and to add information from the Bellingen IGA
Janene Carey
Janene Carey is the senior journalist for the Bellingen Shire Courier-Sun
Janene Carey is the senior journalist for the Bellingen Shire Courier-Sun
