To our beloved locals, thespians and community,

As has been reported this morning, we received notice from City of Sydney council on Friday, August  16 that our license to operate in our beautiful alfresco dining area has been reduced to 8pm, despite our longstanding approval of nearly 20 years to operate until 10pm along Dowling Street. This was done without any consultation with us, in response to the complaint of a neighbouring premises. We only learnt of the existence of this complaint on Friday, and the venue has received no compliance correspondence from council in over three years. We are saddened that council have chosen not to work with us, or indeed even offer us procedural fairness, instead choosing to silently wind back our hours.

We're incredibly disappointed to share this news, as the sudden reduction in hours means guests won't be able to use our outdoor tables during dinner service each night. This unfortunately means that our popular pool room will now also need to close at 8pm, as we have nowhere else to store the furniture due to the resulting mismatched operating hours.

We have had several conversations with people at council since Friday, many of whom have indicated that this decision was made in error, however as it has managed to slip through to a determination, our only recourse is to put in an application and wait. Our last renewal took just over 5 weeks from submission to approval.

The Old Fitzroy Hotel (lovingly known as The Old Fitz) was built over 150 years ago, and it stands as Australia’s last surviving theatre pub. The Old Fitz has long been a meeting place for the local community, and we are devastated by the news that council has made an arbitrary judgement to wind back our dining spaces in a time when the hospitality industry as a whole is suffering under economic and policy pressures.

For the many of you who have contacted us this morning asking what you can do to support us while we wait for City of Sydney to consider our review, we've started this petition so your support can be conveyed to council. Click the link in our bio to view it. If you've ever enjoyed a sunset steak au poivre outside our pub (as I have many times), or even some oysters and a cheeky evening schooner, we encourage you to consider signing this petition.

Thank you for your continued support while we jump through the various hoops in order to get a resolution.

– The Old Fitz, Woolloomooloo