LIQUOR licensing has knocked back an application for a small bar in Fremantle’s High Street on the basis it’s too close to a drug and alcohol treatment facility (“Hangover for clinic,” Herald, June 10, 2017).

Number Ten High Street Pty Ltd had applied for an “intimate, sophisticated late-night venue that combines genuine ‘Freo’ charm with high quality, contemporary facilities and features” that would cater for 70 patrons.

But the application was opposed by about 50 medical professionals, including WA’s chief psychiatrist Nathan Gibson, the CEO of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Pyschiatrists, the psychiatry registrar at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, and UWA’s clinical senior lecturer.

Peter Minchin, director of liquor control and arbitration, heard the application and said the medico’s opinion was overwhelming; the bar presented an unacceptable risk to the clinic’s patients.

“I am of the view that even a small increase in the risk to the well-being to Dr (Kevin) O’Daly’s patients is unacceptable,” Mr Minchin found.

“I give greater weight to the welfare of the at-risk persons attending Dr O’Daly’s clinic over the requirement for some members of the community to access liquor at the applicant’s proposed small bar.”