Young’s Mill Tavern has made its debut on the NSW government’s most violent venues list.
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The pub joins 15 other venues listed as “violent” based on Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) data from 2012.
To be listed, venues had between 12 to 18 violent incidents in the year, with the Mill Tavern just making the list at 12.
One Sydney pub, the Ivy, was listed in the “most violent” category, with 24 violent incidents.
Cootamundra Local Area Command licensing supervisor Michael Wood said the frequent assaults and anti social behaviour began at the Mill Tavern when the previous owners decided to exercise their late trading hours.
“Everyone would travel up to the Mill Tavern because they’re the ones open until two or three in the morning,” he said.
“That’s when the trouble started.”
Senior Constable Wood said since the new owners took over late last year the problems had continued and he’d warned them they’d be placed on the list.
He said he had been speaking with the manager and owner for quite some time to try and devise strategies to combat the anti-social behaviour.
The pub recently brought forward its Friday night closing hours and put on live music instead of a DJ.
He said the changes were in response to the listing, but the Mill Tavern has denied this, saying it was a coincidence.
The venue has still been opening late on Saturday nights.
Last Sunday morning police were called in to contain a brawl and Senior Constable Wood said a man’s jaw had been broken at the venue just a few weeks ago.
He said he hoped to work with the Mill Tavern to get them off the violent venue list, and so far they’d been cooperative.
“At the end of the day, do you want bad publicity and fights or do you want to go home with a clear conscience?” he said.
Young Local Court magistrate Peter Dare said the Mill Tavern was over-represented in incidents of alcohol-fuelled violence - both within and in the near vicinity of the hotel.
“One rarely, if ever, hears of the other hotels in Young producing troublemakers, which speaks for itself.”
As a result of the listing, the Mill Tavern must now comply with restrictions, which are to be in place by this Saturday.
These include, ceasing alcohol service 30 minutes before closing, no glass or breakable containers after midnight, alcohol time-outs or the provision of free water and food for 10 minutes every hour after midnight and a requirement to maintain a detailed incident register whenever trading.
Minister for Hospitality George Souris said the NSW Government remained committed to working with local communities to implement measures to address alcohol-related violence, anti-social behaviour and other harm.
“The Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) will be auditing the 16 named venues to ensure they have adequate venue management plans in place to help control the risk of alcohol-related violence on their premises,” he said.
“OLGR will also conduct ongoing checks to enforce responsible service of alcohol practices and to monitor compliance with licence conditions.”
Senior Constable Wood said part of the responsibility fell on patrons to act with respect for the publican’s livelihood.
“They need to be able to go out without getting cranky when someone bumps them and spills their drink on them,” he said.
“We need to get back to the culture where people used to go out and just enjoy themselves,” Senior Constable Wood said.
The Mill Tavern was contacted for a response but they said they didn’t wish to comment at this stage.
