The Joey restaurant in Sydney in council dispute

The owner of Palm Beach’s sparkling new waterfront restaurant, The Joey, has declared its refined dining room dead in the water with tens of job losses after complaints from a handful of residents saw its application to extend hours to trade at night rejected by Northern Beaches Council.

“We’re 600 metres from the nearest house. We’re one of the most remote restaurants in Sydney. I’m not sure how we impact them,” says The Joey co-owner Ben May.

The sound of silence is evidently a hot issue in the millionaire’s postcode, but May questions why The Joey can’t open at night when businesses near them do. “The golf club does. Dunes restaurant can trade at night, even Casa by The Boathouse is open for dinner and it is right next to homes,” May says.

The Northern Beaches Council website notes that the panel assembled to deliberate on the application was concerned about the impact of the proposed increased operating hours on nearby residents.

“After next week we cannot trade after 4pm. People won’t even be able to watch the sunset.”  

Co-owner Ben May.

“The panel is of the view that the increase in operating hours and the inevitable increase in functions, noise, traffic and other amenity issues resulting from these extended hours does not meet the requirement to be of minimal environmental impact,” the website says of the decision.

“There were over a hundred submissions of support [but] sadly council have listened to a handful of objectors,” May says. The list of concerns from the complainants ranged from an impact on parking to not offering a benefit to the public when it is booked for functions.

“Parking isn’t an issue here at night. There are hundreds of spots and I’m not sure where the concern about functions comes from. It’s a restaurant, and I’m not sure we’ll be benefitting the public if we’re closed,” May adds.

The Joey opened in February with French chef Guillaume Dubois overseeing a kitchen serving lobster frites and grilled snapper. The upmarket dining room has its own designated space in the $7 million rebuild of the old Barrenjoey Boatshed, a Palm Beach landmark since 1947.

“I was a long-time resident of the Northern Beaches, The Joey is somewhere with world-class views, for locals to enjoy and take people from overseas. It’s also a blow for employment, jobs for young people up here,” May says.

“After next week we cannot trade after 4pm, people won’t even be able to watch the sunset.” The Joey will revert exclusively to the casual daytime side of the business until October, when they’ll be able to open just two nights a week under an existing provision during daylight savings.

In the meantime, May says he’s been forced to make reservations elsewhere: “We’re taking it to the Land and Environment Court.”