NSW farmers buy closing pub to try and revive their community

ABC NEWS (Australia)

When the hotel in Bemboka on the far south coast of New South Wales was struggling to find a buyer, it looked like it might stay closed for good. In an attempt to revitalize their town, a couple of brave local farmers decided to have a crack at being publicans.

Transcript

00:00It's a Friday night and the bar couldn't be busier.

00:13The chefs are pumping out meals and the ruffles are on.

00:16Three tickets, five dollars, ten prizes to ninety, everyone can head over to the corner

00:20to the lion's table at the bar, your tickets, that'd be great, thank you.

00:24But this is not an ordinary night, it's the pub's official opening.

00:30It's packed, if you have a look behind, it's packed through to the wall.

00:38This pub in Bimboga, about 470 kilometres south of Sydney, had been closed for nearly six months.

00:46It's the only pub in the town of about 600 people, with the next closest one in Bega, 35 kilometres away.

00:54Locals feared their pub wouldn't reopen after spending so long on the market without a buyer,

00:59until Karen and Rowan Alcock decided to take it on.

01:03Has it sunk in, Rowan, that you've bought this pub?

01:05Oh, it's bloody sunk in, don't worry about that.

01:07Yeah, I probably would have gave it to you a couple of days ago, after the first day and night.

01:13You could have had it.

01:16Owning a pub is hard work, but try to open one while also running a farm.

01:20Well, generally Karen runs down to the pub and tries to get the hotel going, managing the hotel.

01:27And I'll kick-start my day off here and get a few jobs done and then try and go outside and work.

01:32Not far in the distance, though, is a reminder of how close the Alcocks were to losing their property.

01:43The Yankees Gap bushfire swept through the region in 2018, burning along the Alcocks boundary.

01:49And then came black summer the next year.

01:52We lost quite a few sheds.

01:54A lot of machinery.

01:54A lot of machinery, yeah.

01:55All the irrigation.

01:56Yeah, yeah.

01:57Yeah.

01:58There was about $1.3 million worth of damage.

02:00No insurance for them.

02:04Even before the fires, Bimboka's economy was suffering.

02:07Many businesses had closed.

02:09Here in the main street, you've got a post office, you've got a pie shop, and that's about it.

02:14Karen and Rowan hope the pub will bring the town back to life.

02:19The town used to be really booming.

02:20It had a lot of shops.

02:22It had service stations, it had a grocery store, all that sort of thing.

02:25But over time...

02:26Two or three cafes at one stage.

02:28Yeah.

02:28Over time, things have just gone backwards, and it's all got centralised.

02:32All the shopping back into Bega, and that sort of thing.

02:35Yeah, the little place is sort of struggling, so...

02:37Is that in the middle?

02:41Left.

02:42Down.

02:44Yeah, go up a little bit.

02:46There you go.

02:46Perfect.

02:46Woohoo!

02:48The pub has stood in town for decades, but the Alcocks decided to renovate and make it a cafe as well.

02:55Congratulations, mate.

02:57Great.

02:58Wonderful.

02:59It's got to work.

03:00It will work.

03:01It's wonderful.

03:02We'll have taken over, haven't we?

03:03Yeah, yeah, yeah.

03:04And that's great.

03:05So you'll have somewhere to come and have a cup of tea or, you know, again.

03:08Exactly.

03:09And the locals are loving it.

03:10We're going to go and have a coffee now.

03:14There you go.

03:15You've got your first victims coming in.

03:16Coming in.

03:17That's great.

03:18That's great.

03:19It'll work, mate.

03:20It'll work.

03:21Communities like this have to have somewhere to gather.

03:26You don't need to be a drinker.

03:28You might enjoy a good meal.

03:29You might enjoy a cup of coffee.

03:31And to be able to have that choice is really important in a community like this.

03:37Do, have to wait a minute.

03:39I'll içe a little life, don't lose.

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