THE owners of Goulburn Chargrill Chicken are spitting chips after being forced to close their Auburn Street takeaway for five days because of structural damage.
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Tim and Rena Mavrothalassitis’s shop - also known as the ‘Fisherman’s Net - is next door to the Aldi expansion on the site of the former Corinthian Mall precinct.
The demolition work has apparently exacerbated previous structural damage prompting a council-enforced closure for five days.
The couple have hired a barrister in an effort to seek compensation for loss of trade.
They fear for the future of their business, saying the work next door is discouraging customers.
Mr and Mrs Mavrothalassitis were told by Goulburn Mulwaree Council and structural engineer David Potter & Associates that their shop’s verandah awning, parapet and front wall steel lintel would need to be strengthened so that it wasn’t a risk to public safety.
To have this work carried out, they were asked to close their shop between February 9 and February 13.
Mr Mavrothalassitis was also sent two letters by Council and Mr Potter in regards to this and told that he could sit down and have a meeting with Mr Potter, site manager Steve Rogers and council representatives to hear his concerns.
However, he says this meeting never happened.
Council’s planning director Louise Wakefield told the Post that she was not aware of any meeting ever being arranged.
“I’m more than happy to arrange a meeting between Mr & Mrs Mavrothalassitis and associated parties to sit down and sort this out,” she said.
“When I had spoken previously with Tim on the phone and asked him whether he had received all his paperwork, he said to me ‘Yes, yes I have received it and it is all in order.”
Nevertheless, Mr Mavrothalassitis took the letters to local solicitors Johnson & Sendall who advised him to seek specialist advice in Sydney.
“We managed to find a barrister in Sydney, Ben Clark of Garfield Barwick Chambers based in Martin Place, who is prepared to have our case heard,” Mr Mavrothalassitis said.
“We have been struggling to keep our business going, as we have to pay at least $600 rent, $300 electricity and $1000 on stock.
“We have lost money on our stock plus parking spaces outside the shop and so we have therefore lost customers because they are not allowed to park outside our shop and they are even scared to come near the shop because of this.”
Mr Mavrothalassitis and his wife say that they have lost at least 35 per cent of their business and feel that it is not worth it to keep going.
“We cannot keep going for much longer and we will have to close within the next week to 10 days or so,” he said.
“We will have to move to Sydney and start afresh, which we simply cannot afford to do at the moment.”
The Aldi expansion project is being undertaken by local firm ARW Multigroup, and is estimated to be worth about $2 million.
It has involved partial demolition of the former Ageing, Disability and Home Care (ADHC) building, located behind the curernt Aldi site.
The development will also facilitate a 337 square metre extension of retail space set 1.5 metres below the main street, and will consist of 13 serviced studio-style apartments on the first floor.
It is estimated to be completed by Christmas.
Mrs Wakefield said previous structural damage had been identified on the premises, and since that time some of the works had been undermined and could have caused damage to the shop.
She said it posed a risk to public safety.
“Works were required to be undertaken immediately to prevent deterioration of the awning,” she said.
“Council worked with structural engineer David Potter and other associated parties to work the problems out.
“We also worked with the owners/ landlords of the adjacent building to rectify the situation as quickly as possible.”
The couple’s barrister Mr Clark told the Post he believed that the whole development situation needed to be handled better, and that appropriate communication channels needed to be put in place between all parties.
“This work was understood to have caused damage to the building my client’s shop is in, which in turn made the council close him down for a period of three days,” Mr Clark said.
“Nobody had offered him compensation for the loss of profit, and secondly for the loss of his stock such as fresh fish.
“So far he’s been denied compensation by all those involved. I recently just moved to the Goulburn area, and my client was unable to find anyone to represent him legally, so I was able to assist him in the best way I could on a pro bono basis.”
