Community & Business
30 January, 2025
Ice creamery dining approved
THE Emerald Creek Ice Creamery on Kennedy Highway has been approved to extend its restaurant hours to 10pm on Friday and Saturday nights to complement its new club status.
At a Mareeba Shire Council meeting last Wednesday, councillors unanimously approved the plan, with the provision that it would not operate until all club status conditions were met.
In September last year, the MSC approved a Material Change of Use application to allow the business to operate as a club until 11pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
This latest change scaled back night operations to just Friday and Saturday nights with club events until 11pm and dining till 10pm.
The club status was requested by the owners of the popular ice creamery and restaurant to host bingo and poker nights.
Council was told the evenings would be contained inside the venue, and no amplified noise was to accompany the events. Only restaurant dining would be permitted outdoors.
The original MCU drew 13 submissions concerned about the amenity of neighbouring properties and the increased safety risks associated with the additional traffic entering and exiting via the busy Kennedy Highway at night.
Conditions for the MCU included no parking on the Kennedy Highway road reserve; the onsite car park to be extended if capacity could not be met; and the highway entrance to the venue widened for easier entry and exit.
High fencing and vegetation buffers were also to be installed to ease noise, headlight intrusion into neighbouring properties, and dust drift.
The Department of Main Roads and Transport had assessed the application and traffic conditions and had “no issue” with the change of use.
In notes for council, a report said the latest approval for the popular ice creamery, which has been operating since 2009, would value-add to the business model and respond to an increase in demand for evening trade.
The approval also scaled back to just Friday and Saturday nights. Recent upgrades to the Kennedy Highway frontage have ensured the site can be accessed safely and efficiently. The development can be conditioned to ensure the rural character and amenity of the area is not compromised by the changes.
No new submissions were received by council in the latest application.
