YOUNG people headed to Albury’s late night venues are likely to put increased pressure on licensees to attract their patronage in the wake of the first night of the new 1.30am lockout.
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Faced with having their entertainment curtailed, many young people had carefully planned their evening with friends.
Others were caught out and had to make last-minute plans before the deadline came. Few were happy with the lockout’s introduction.
Kent McAuliffe and Luke Geary, of Wodonga, were in line at Liquid Nightclub at 12.50am after making the decision not to join the longer queue outside the Globe Hotel.
“We go to the Globe normally but we weren’t going to stand in that queue,” Mr McAuliffe said.
He said the pair had been in the queue for about 20 minutes and while they weren’t happy their night had begun standing in line they saw little alternative if they were to find somewhere to go for rest of the evening.
Mr Geary said the lockout had also affected their plans to arrange transport home to Wodonga with a designated driver because they were forced to commit themselves to one venue much earlier.
Symone Grieve, of Wodonga, said she and her friends would have to more carefully consider where they were going to spend a longer part of their evening.
“I can see the pubs are going to have to do more advertising and tell us exactly what we are going there for,” she said.
Marc Rafael was one of the dozens of people in the queue in front of the Globe Hotel that stretched along Dean St almost to the Kiewa St corner at 1am.
“Normally I go to the Bended Elbow and this is my first time at the Globe but I wanted to test it out,” he said.
Paul Campbell said he and his friends had travelled from Wodonga earlier than usual to ensure they got into the Globe before the 1.30am deadline.
“Normally we would go out about 9pm but tonight we left at 7.30pm,” he said.
Christie Debnam said she had previously been to the Globe before 2am and had stood in a line for only 10 minutes before being allowed in.
Krystal Eldridge said while she understood there had been incidents of violence in Dean St in the past, she thought the police presence should be increased to deter trouble makers.
“I haven’t seen one all night,” she said.
Ms Eldridge said she thought young people who often didn’t go out until after 11pm due to work or sporting commitments earlier in the day were being penalised because of a “few idiots”.
Ben Stove said the lockout was equivalent to “your parents giving you a curfew”.
There were those who missed out at the 1.30am mark.
Among them was Susan Weidner, who had celebrated her 21st birthday with friends at Wodonga and had arrived to find they had missed joining the Globe queue by just two minutes.
Her pleading with security personnel at the queue fell on deaf, but polite, ears and the group spent the latter part of their evening at Soden’s, where there was only a small crowd an hour later.
Another to miss out was Craig Prendergast and his friends, who arrived at The Bended Elbow seven minutes after the doors had closed, also from Wodonga.
“I would understand it if people turned up, obviously drunk but I reckon if you walk in looking decent they should let you in up until 3am.”
