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An Adelaide Hills brewer will consider its legal options if a coronavirus-prompted order forcing it to shut down takeaway and drive-through services is not reversed.
Key points:
- Prancing Pony Brewery in Mount Barker has been ordered to stop its takeaway service
- Co-owner Corinna Steeb says the direction is unfair and is considering challenging it in court
- Police say the brewery has been directed to modify its business practices but can still trade
Wineries and cellar doors have been directed to stop on-site trading after a cluster of cases broke out in the Barossa Valley.
The Prancing Pony Brewery in Mount Barker had been operating a takeaway service before it was last week ordered to comply with the restriction.
However, co-owner Corinna Steeb said the order had been "wrongly applied" to the brewery and is calling for the decision to be reversed.
"We will fight it," she told ABC Radio Adelaide.
"Our business, as we understand it, was the only [brewery] that was singled out."
Ms Steeb said she had sought legal advice, written to the Premier's office and drafted a letter to the Police Commissioner.
If the decision is not reversed, she said she would take her fight to court.
"We plead with the police to reconsider it, to reverse this decision, but if they do not reverse this decision we find it [an] unfair and targeted approach," she said.
Ms Steeb said the business employs 26 staff who now face the prospect of being out of work.
"It is definitely not the right thing to close a business like ours down, which will then cause unemployment," she said.
Decision about 'reducing the risk', police say
Lawyer Karen Stanley agreed the direction was unfair and should be reviewed.
"It's not a winery, it's not a cellar door," she said.
Ms Stanley said the business could ask the Supreme Court to review the decision.
However, SA Police said the brewery was directed to modify its trading practices in line with wineries and cellar door-style businesses.
"These types of business are closed to the public but are permitted to sell goods, including liquor, provided it is delivered by the business or a commercial freight transporter," police said in a statement.
"In short, the Prancing Pony Brewery can still trade but is now subject to a direction reflective of the restrictions already in place for wineries and cellar doors.
"The intention of these restrictions is to reduce the risk that COVID-19 is spread by visitors to these regions as occurred in the Barossa Valley last month."
Winery and cellar door regulations are stricter than those imposed on hotels, bars, restaurants and food courts.
Those businesses have closed but are still allowed to offer takeaway services from their premises.
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Topics: covid-19, diseases-and-disorders, police, law-crime-and-justice, alcohol, industry, sa, mount-barker-5251, australia, adelaide-5000