The Prawnster will continue to trade despite court decision
The Prawnster owner Martin Brennan is defiant his business will stay open, despite a Friday Supreme Court decision that upheld a 30 April termination of his restaurant’s berthing and mooring deed at Dockside Marina.
“We just need to stay open, stay trading, and the solution will be worked out,” Brennan told Good Food.
The Kangaroo Point restaurant occupies two refurbished trawlers and a covered pontoon but has faced legal problems around its commercial operations at the marina.
Although the 60-seat restaurant’s mooring deed was terminated, The Prawnster continued to trade, even through the Supreme Court fight.
“Visitors are pouring into the city during the holiday period,” he said. “We have Christmas functions booked, so we’re just going to continue trading, as far as I’m concerned. Location is a technicality. We’ll keep the business trading. We’re just going to have to slip around the river or up the river a little bit.
“We have our niche and I can’t see any good reason to close the business, based on popular demand. What that looks like is probably slipping around possibly closer to the CBD and just trying to find moorings.”
While he lost the mooring battle, Brennan is seeking clarification as to whether he can operate on the Crown lease at Dockside Marina. However, the court has said that in upholding the April termination there was no need to hear the matter on varying the Crown lease.
“The court said, ‘yes, you can cancel his mooring deed’,” Brennan said. “We didn’t dispute that; of course he can … But then [the court] said, ‘On that basis, there’s now nothing to see here. I’m not going to take a look at the underlying Crown lease to determine whether trading is permissible under the lease.’
“We’re just keeping our options open,” Brennan said. “We’re just continuing to trade while our lawyers are looking at it. Should we appeal? Should we pursue this action so that it does get clarified and then we can get our sub lease? It’s pretty complex.”
The Prawnster opened in 2020 with a view to serve fresh seafood sourced direct from trawlers working the Queensland coast.
Brennan remains confident he’ll be able to trade through the holiday period.
Jonathan Jackson, 15th November 2023
