Sydney’s Golden Sheaf hotel has been slapped with a $5,500 fine from Liquor & Gaming NSW for breaching COVID-19 public health orders after pictures surfaced showing as many as 250 customers seemingly ignoring social distancing outside the venue.
The news comes after photos of the large crowds circulated on social media, prompting Liquor & Gaming NSW to investigate further.
According to Dimitri Argeres from Liquor & Gaming NSW, inspectors reviewed the venue’s CCTV footage and were ultimately able to confirm the breach.
“The situation on Wednesday night posed a serious risk to public health and an improvement notice was not appropriate,” he said.
Ultimately, the body confirmed that approximately 250 customers were in breach of social distancing regulations currently in place in NSW. As a result, a $5,500 fine was issued.
“We need to send a clear message to this business and others that if you are not doing the right thing you will be held to account, and we will escalate our enforcement actions for those who put the public at risk,” Argeres said.
However, the chief executive of Solotel Group (Golden Sheaf’s operator) asserts that the venue was, in fact, practising social distancing.
“We take the safety of our guests and staff very seriously,” Justine Baker said, according to the ABC.
“We employ management and security staff to monitor queues constantly — at the Golden Sheaf last night we worked immediately with police to disperse the crowd and ensure social-distancing measures were established.”
Speaking with news.com.au, the pub claims that staff worked with police to disperse the crowd, and will now employ extra security to manage social distancing in future.
According to Argeres, the onus is on both customers and businesses to ensure social distancing measures are followed appropriately.
If you’re heading out this weekend, do the right thing and keep your distance. Nobody, not you or the pub, wants a fine or another coronavirus cluster.
