Crowd-funding campaign hopes to save Rappville Pub

A crowd-funding campaign is underway to help the owners of the Rappville Pub near Casino keep the business going.

The campaign target of $60,000 would enable the hotel owners comply with orders from Richmond Valley Council to upgrade the kitchen and comply with fire regulations.

Hotel owners Peter and Jayne Fitzpatrick announced on the pub’s Facebook page last week that the hotel would close on Sunday, 24 July as a result of the council orders.

But a groundswell of support has led the owners to start the crowd-funding campaign in order to keep the hotel open.

Meanwhile, Richmond Valley Council’s media officer has issued a statement to ‘clarify a few issues as I believe Council has unfairly been cast as the villain and nothing could be further from the truth’.

‘We know how important the Rappville Pub is to the community and we want it to continue to operate,’ Ms Davidson said.

‘We have been working with Jayne and Peter for about 18 months, providing advice and solutions for them to meet the required fire and food safety standards at least cost.

‘The fire safety standards relate to the pub providing upstairs accommodation, while the food safety standards relate to the standard of the kitchen.’

Ms Davidson said there was no obstacle to the pub operating as a licensed premises but it would be restricted from offering accommodation or food until the orders had been met.

‘The good news is that Jayne and Peter have now submitted a DA, which we will process as a priority to enable the required work to be completed so it can continue to operate, should the owners wish to do so,’ she said.

‘We will continue to support the owners where we can so they can find a way to keep the pub open, but they need to step up and accept their responsibilities for public health and safety.

‘Whether or not to close the pub is a decision for the owners.’

The crowd-funding campaign can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/2ehq8yas