The owner of the Kinross Woolshed hotel says the Thurgoona pub should not be judged on the past as he looks to stage large scale events in coming years.
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Peter Griffiths was speaking to Albury councillors who at a meeting on Monday, May 27, granted him a new three-year deal to stage outdoor gatherings at the venue.
The approval came in spite of opposition from nearby residents and the Thurgoona-Wirlinga Community Action Group who told councillors of their concerns about noise, traffic and the impact on squirrel gliders.
Mr Griffiths said his family took over the hotel 18 months ago and he understood the premises had a "chequered career with poor management, poor execution".
"We have every intention to change that and we really want to make sure that this application is not judged. ... on how they executed it in the past," Mr Griffiths said.
"We've put a plan of management in place to address all of the things that the community has told us has been wrong."
Mr Griffiths said events would consist of more than live music and residents would be consulted beforehand and feedback would be taken afterwards.
"We're happy to hang our hat and put our performance on record and show to people that if we don't do it right then we'll be held to account (and) we're happy to be held to account," he said.
Originally a five-year agreement was recommended to councillors but that was reduced to three with an amendment after councillors Ashley Edwards and Alice Glachan said they would be more comfortable supporting a shorter term.
In moving the amendment, councillor Jess Kellahan also ensured there would be consultation within 30 days of an event or before the next occasion, whichever arose first.
Event conditions include a noise complaints hotline, sound level monitoring to be done by Kinross management and acoustic fencing to be installed for events.
Deputy mayor Steve Bowen said it would be a major task and pretty challenging for the Kinross to host four events, which would attract 5000 patrons in a year, as permitted under the new agreement.
"One of those 5000 events might be a carols by candlelight type of event, so we're not talking necessarily about all rock concerts, per se, and loud music necessarily," Cr Bowen said.
Community action group secretary Sally Hendy joined residents Elizabeth Leathbridge and Adrian Seidel in voicing opposition to the council's forum before its decision.
She raised the prospect of how the site would be evacuated safely if there was a storm, "a lot of people overdosing", brawl or other criminal activity.
The council voted 7-2 for the deal with councillors Stuart Baker and Darren Cameron the negative duo.
"I just believe the scope to go over the top on noise is too great to approve this development," Cr Baker said.
"I think the residents have every right to be able to enjoy their serenity as much as possible.
"I take on board what the proponents said ... about the behaviour in the past and you can have very good intentions but if you get a big crowd in there, the audience wants it loud and they'll expect it loud and I think there's too much that could go wrong."
