Bondi hostel liquor licence and renewable energy headline tonight’s Waverley Council meeting

Bondi hostel liquor licence and renewable energy headline tonight’s Waverley Council meeting
Image: A motion addressing the proposed liquor licence at The Village Backpackers Hostel has been tabled. Photo: Google Maps.

By DANIEL LO SURDO

A Bondi Beach hostel’s controversial liquor licence application and finding new avenues to reach 100 per cent renewable energy will be on the agenda at Waverley Council’s first ordinary meeting of 2022, following the return of Paula Masselos and Elaine Keenan to the respective mayoralty and deputy mayoralty in January.

Councillor Michelle Gray will table a motion tonight addressing the liquor licence application made by The Village Backpackers in December, proposing that council “strongly opposes the granting of a liquor licence” to the Bondi Beach hostel.

City Hub report from January found that many Bondi residents objected to the hostel being granted a liquor licence, with the incidence of anti-social behaviour, its location in a residential area and a lack of compliance cited as issues with the application.

In addition to forming an opposition to the application, Cr Gray will also ask that council takes a stand against the granting of liquor licences to backpacker hostels and accommodation in principle.

It will also be asked that Waverley Mayor Paula Masselos writes to the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority to advise it of council’s opposition to The Village Backpackers Hostel application, and opposition to the granting of liquor licences to backpacker hostels and accommodation.

Greens councillor Ludovico Fabiano has tabled a motion calling on council to prioritise actions that will support net-zero emissions in their community. According to council’s business meeting papers, work to expedite programs across Waverley to achieve council’s net-zero target can be done through the preparation of the draft Environmental Action Plan, which would be reported to council in April.

Cr Fabiano’s motion also requests that council identifies how recent amendments to NSW legislation, which now allows councils to host public and community battery storage for renewable energy, could assist community energy initiatives.

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