{"id":785624,"date":"2026-07-07T21:57:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T21:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/785624\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T21:57:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T21:57:12","slug":"dry-dock-hotel-residents-near-historic-balmain-pub-at-war-with-owners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/785624\/","title":{"rendered":"Dry Dock Hotel: Residents near historic Balmain pub at war with owners"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exclusive: Residents of a ritzy Sydney<\/a> suburb are at war with their neighbourhood pub<\/a> after the heritage-listed venue reopened on their doorstep.<\/p>\n

The Dry Dock Hotel has been a stalwart of Cameron Street in Balmain since 1867.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Dry Dock Hotel in Balmain reopened in late 2023.\u00a0@drydockhotel<\/p>\n

It closed for a year-long refurbishment during the pandemic<\/a> and opened its doors again in late 2023.<\/p>\n

The historic watering hole transformed its beer garden to cater for a maximum of 40 patrons and is open until midnight every night \u2013 much to the chagrin of its neighbours.<\/p>\n

Locals on nearby College Street have complained the beer garden and longer trading hours is disrupting their peace and quiet.<\/p>\n

The Inner West Local Planning Panel (IWLPP), acting on behalf of the Inner West Council, unanimously approved configurations to the pub\u2019s indoor and outdoor areas and trading hours in June 2023 ahead of Peninsula Hospitality Group reopening the hotel.<\/p>\n

Before its 2021 closure, the pub stopped trading at 10pm on Sundays. Now, patrons can stay until midnight.<\/p>\n

The refurbished venue also has more outdoor seating on the street.<\/p>\n

Wendy, 85, is a longtime resident of College Street and said the noise has escalated to a \u201cterrible\u201d level.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t ever seem to quieten down,\u201d Wendy told nine.com.au<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is always noise, children screaming, the sound of motorbikes and there are always cars parked outside my window.\u201d<\/p>\n

Care workers visit Wendy at her home regularly and they are often forced to park on Darling Street, which is around 500 metres away.<\/p>\n

She said patrons at the pub \u201ctake up all the spots\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A flyer was posted in the suburb asking locals to register their complaints with the venue and NSW Liquor & Gaming.\u00a0Balmain Living<\/p>\n

Wendy has lived in Balmain for 14 years and acknowledged the pub was opened long before her time.<\/p>\n

The suburb is a haven for pub lovers. The small peninsula is renowned for its venues, with 19 pubs and a brewery in Balmain and Rozelle.<\/p>\n

But Wendy said her street has not been the same since the Dry Dock\u2019s renovations.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore it was renovated, it was very quiet,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s completely changed everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of those living on College Street are aged over 70. <\/p>\n

Residents are sandwiched between two pubs: the Dry Dock Hotel and the Royal Oak Hotel, which is located on the intersection of College Street and Curtis Road.<\/p>\n

Flyers were seen posted on power poles around the Balmain area, asking residents to register their complaints with Liquor & Gaming NSW.<\/p>\n

The flyer asked if neighbours were \u201csick and tired\u201d of having their sleep disrupted by the pub\u2019s patrons.<\/p>\n

One disgruntled local, who wished to remain anonymous, told nine.com.au<\/a> that he was \u201cblindsided\u201d by the changes to the renovated Dry Dock Hotel.<\/p>\n

He claimed the Inner West Council did not consult locals before approving the renovations and extended hours in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard enough living across the road from a licensed venue, let alone now having to put up with 40 people drinking outside our bedroom and lounge room doors and windows,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has greatly impaired our once peaceful lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The pub is open until midnight every day,\u00a0@drydockhotel<\/p>\n

Co-owner of the Dry Dock Hotel James Ingham told nine.com.au that the pub and its staff \u201ccare deeply about the community\u201d and \u201cdo everything in our power to be a positive presence in the neighbourhood and to maintain the best possible relationships with our local residents\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat includes significant investment in soundproofing during our 2022 to 2023 renovation,\u201d Ingham said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOutdoor dining is part of the fabric of Balmain and Rozelle, with pubs across the peninsula offering outdoor seating that locals love, and ours is no different. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are proactive in working with our community on any reasonable concerns, and we publish a direct contact number for our duty manager on our website so that anything can be raised with us and addressed straight away.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Liquor & Gaming NSW told nine.com.au that it has received several noise complaints from a nearby resident about the Dry Dock Hotel.<\/p>\n

\u201cL&G NSW has undertaken\u00a0a number of\u00a0onsite\u00a0inspections, including assessing the level of disturbance from the hotel\u2019s operations. No\u00a0compliance\u00a0issues\u00a0have been\u00a0identified,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cL&G NSW has met with\u00a0staff from the hotel\u00a0and provided education and support on\u00a0general noise mitigation measures.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u00a0will\u00a0continue\u00a0to\u00a0monitor\u00a0the\u00a0hotel\u00a0to ensure it\u00a0complies with\u00a0its licence conditions\u00a0and obligations under the\u00a0Liquor Act 2007.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nine.com.au<\/a> has also contacted the Inner West Council for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Residents of a ritzy Sydney suburb are at war with their neighbourhood pub after the heritage-listed venue…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":785625,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-785624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=785624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/785625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=785624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=785624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=785624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}