Another Iconic Kings Cross Venue To Shut Its Doors

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Another Iconic Kings Cross Venue To Shut Its Doors

Sydney is set to lose another iconic venue, this time the pizza, bar and club joint Hugo’s Lounge in Kings Cross who are blaming a “decline in revenue” for closing their doors shortly and will follow suite to similar clubs in the area Backroom, Trademake and Soho.

Since the lockout laws have come in place operators have been forced to slash hundreds of hours and up to 100 jobs with the remaining staff summoned to a lunch meeting and told post this weekend, unless a buyer was found would be closing as of Monday.

Although having never earned a strike under the Governments three strike rule the club was included in the archaic lockout laws that force the venue to disallow additional patronage past 1:30am and the service of drinks to finish at 3:00am.

It seems strange that a venue with a particular upmarket clientele and less chance of a younger, boozy crowd has been pushed to closure proving that the lockout laws punish the wider majority and not the individuals behind coward punches and reasoning for the laws in the first place.

The Sydney Morning Herald additionally report that “crime statistics also showed alcohol-related assaults on licensed premises more than doubled in Pyrmont over the 12 months to March, and climbed 60 per cent in Newtown. Meanwhile, City of Sydney research found footpath traffic in the Cross had decreased by about 80 per cent from 2012 to 2014.” which speaks volume about the effectiveness of the lockout laws.

Nearby Flinders Hotel and Q Bar on and around Oxford Street were both forced to close down due to pressure from the government and aggressive real estate and residents.

Hugos licensee Adam Hart said everyone was “pretty upset” and would face unemployment within an industry with fewer and fewer jobs. “The government doesn’t really want these businesses to exist,” he added.

Meanwhile Melbourne recently lifted any remaining restrictions on their nightlife… sigh.

source: SMH

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