Three Blue Ducks move into the Lodge Bellingen despite ongoing dispute
Celebrity chefs Andy Allen, Matt LaBrooy and Darren Robertson of Three Blue Ducks have moved into the Lodge Bellingen.
The move comes after a dispute between previous tenants husband-and-wife team Carla Jones and Richie Dolan, who ran the popular The Hilltop in Sawtell.
Jones, Dolan and business partner Matthew Evans found themselves on the outer after a lengthy legal battle with The Lodge in Bellingen and say they have been left financially and emotionally crippled after a dispute over operating hours.
Dolan, who has previously worked at esteemed Sydney restaurants like Aria and Chiswick said of the ordeal, “Both personally and professionally it has been the hardest two years of our lives, we never thought that we would be in a position so debilitating and financially crippling.
“We are a small family-run business that has invested heavily financially in a what we thought was a sound business opportunity. We took it on after our youngest daughter was only five months old and built an amazing team and thoroughly enjoyed the food we cooked and the service we provided.”
The Hilltop owners were approached by Anthony and Monique Parmenter in 2019 to open a restaurant at The Lodge and signed terms and conditions for a 13-year period.
The restaurant was open from Thursday to Sunday, but the dispute began when The Lodge asked for opening hours to be extended to seven days a week, for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Unfortunately, Hilltop’s owners did not have a fully registered lease. Dolan says he was given an ultimatum to vacate the premises in July 2021.
When they didn’t leave, they were locked out, with the case going to the NSW Civil Administrative Tribunal three times.
In July 2022, the court ruled they were illegally locked out from their premises, however the team has still not been allowed back into the venue.
The Three Blue Ducks owners moved in last week, with co-owner Paul Dewhurst saying “After lengthy communications with both The Lodge and the previous tenants, it was our understanding that there was a plan in place to resolve the impasse. We will be leaving The Lodge and former tenant to solve any outstanding issues as the matter relates to them and not Three Blue Ducks.”
A spokesperson for The Lodge told The Daily Telegraph, “We have always acted reasonably to resolve matters for the benefit of all parties.”
Meanwhile The Hilltop team will continue the fight.
“We had invested a lot of money, blood, sweat and tears into the development and renovations of the restaurant and had built a successful and locally-loved business,” Dolan said.
“We were not prepared, or willing, to simply walk away from our 13-year lease and everything that we had worked so hard to establish.”
Evans told The Daily Telegraph: “A lot of our capital is tied up in Hilltop at the Lodge, so you can’t just walk into a different space and open up again. This is why we have, and are, fighting so hard.
“The personal toll of the last two years has been quite large. After the initial shock and craze of being illegally locked out and the meetings with lawyers and accountants that follows in those first few days, a massive feeling of shame and embarrassment set in.
“I knew that this situation was not our fault, but there was a sense of failure.
“A family run business is left clutching at straws and left fighting to protect our investment and loss of opportunity in the Tribunal,” Dolan said.
“The whole situation is completely unjust.”
Jonathan Jackson, 19th July 2023
