ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
An Old City District cafe has been slapped with a large fine today after rangers from the Shire Council discovered it had a name of conventional spelling.
Cafes with conventionally-spelled names are banned in the Old City District and Betoota Heights, which is something Indulge Cafe owner Greg Brady wasn’t aware of.
“The rangers came in and told me that I had to change the name of my cafe and that they were going to fine me,” he said.
“So now I’ve got this $39 fine and 90 days to rebrand. Which will cost me thousands,”
“To do this to a small business during COVID is just terrible. I hope someone works up the courage to finally run up behing Mayor Keith Carton with a snub-nose .38, put it behind the right ear and blow his frontal lobes out on the footpath!”
When asked by The Advocate what spelling of ‘Indulge’ the Council would approve, the Shire explained anything except as it reads in the dictionary.
Alternatives such as N’Dulge, NDulj, Endulge, Indulj, EnDullGe were all deemed acceptable by the council.
The news comes after a landmark case in 2016, which saw a local coffee house, Come Here Rude Boy, take on the council for their right to be called what they wanted to be called.
The Shire Council was ultimately victorious in the Supreme Court of Appeal and the owners of Come Here Rude Boy were forced to drop the vowels from ‘Come’ and substitute in a lone ‘u’ – which many in the community found offensive.
‘Cum Here Rude Boy’ was only in business for a short time before it was set alight by a mystery arsonist who is still at large.
More to come.
