A FALLING out between landlord and licensee has seen the Tallangatta Hotel shut for more than a week.
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Building owner Tim Bohane said management issues had prompted the decision to end the agreement with licensee Wayne Lansdown who had ran the pub since 2012.
Mr Bohane was unwilling to go into detail, but he has vowed to reopen the hotel which contains Tallangatta’s only TAB.
“It’s definitely going to reopen,” Mr Bohane said.
“The main thing is we’ve got to get that liquor licence back up, then we can start selling grog and the TAB will come after that.”
Mr Bohane was unable to nominate a reopening date, with several hurdles to be negotiated.
They include finding a new licensee, who will be required to undergo checks and to have completed courses, and meeting council regulations for food service and accommodation.
Mr Bohane and his wife Lyn, who come from Wattle Flat near Bathurst, have been staying at the hotel since it closed last week.
They bought the hotel five years ago.
An electrician, Mr Bohane says he had an 18-year lease with Mr Lansdown and that has 12 years to run.
The Border Mail could not reach Mr Lansdown for comment, but in a Facebook post on July 16 he flagged his departure.
“I've been trying to re-negotiate a lease for some time and couldn't get it done so I'm no longer in the hotel,” he wrote.
“The hotel will remain closed while the owners go through the licensing process and re-open the hotel in a few weeks.”
The Bohanes believe the business can operate successfully and that Tallangatta is big enough for two pubs, with the Victoria Hotel also in town.
“There’s plenty of money going through the place from the records we’ve got,” Mr Bohane said.
Mrs Bohane added: “We’re prepared to stay here and do more maintenance if someone took it on.”
Mr Bohane said there had been some frustration from punters unavailable to use what is the only TAB between Wodonga and Corryong.
“Most have been mentioning how much money they’re saving because they have got to drive into the Black Stump (hotel in Wodonga for a bet),” Mr Bohane said.
The hotel opened in 1956 and has a bottle shop, bistro, beer garden, kitchen with pizza oven and 13 upstairs rooms for accommodation.
There has not been a major renovation since it opened as part of Tallangatta relocating for Hume Dam.
![PUBLICAN SOUGHT: Landlord and electrician Tim Bohane is looking for a new licensee for the Tallangatta Hotel which has temporarily closed for business. Picture: PETER MERKESTEYN PUBLICAN SOUGHT: Landlord and electrician Tim Bohane is looking for a new licensee for the Tallangatta Hotel which has temporarily closed for business. Picture: PETER MERKESTEYN](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/XJLgPnEdnKaFugZzKyL6Sw/74d4eebf-3dc5-482c-b726-bb1f7d619e78.jpg/r230_265_5172_3456_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)