Assembly owner Wes Heincke apologises after multiple liquor licence breaches

The "people's pub" was issued a $9000 fine and prohibited from serving liquor on Friday following multiple breaches of its liquor licence in 2022.

The contraventions relate to failing to report security incidences online, failing to store security footage for the required time and neglecting to keep its windows and doors shut after 10pm to control noise.

Compliance officers visited the pub on multiple occasions. In addition to Assembly failing to produce the video footage and online incident reports, they found doors separating the beer garden from the interior open twice in two weeks and filed action with the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

The penalties have followed years of complaints from some residents of nearby Mort Street apartments, who've claimed the venue has breached noise regulations on weekends for years.

One group, whose balconies face Assembly's beer garden, claim building a structure to contain crowds and the noise is the only solution.

Mr Heincke said the 10-metre tree in the backyard would make that near impossible and attempting to do so would defeat the purpose of having a beer garden.

He said he understands living near a busy venue, particularly in the post-pandemic boom, would sometimes be trying.

"I'd like to think of myself as an empathetic person," he said.

"I'll tell you who else I have empathy for ... the thousands of customers we're getting every week that have a great time at Assembly.

"I think we provide something that's for the greater good for this town."

Mr Heincke said the offences took place some time ago when his attention had been directed towards opening another venue interstate.

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He said the failure to report the security breaches had led him to take over the running of security at multiple late night venues, including Assembly.

In the last 12 months, Assembly has also moved its live music indoors in an effort to keep noise down.

Mr Heincke said his intention is to open additional venues in Canberra which means maintaining compliance and working constructively with regulators.

"I want to push this town and make sure it's better and better," he said.

"One thing we have in Canberra at the moment is hospitality. We don't have the beach, but what we do have is a really thriving hospitality scene with a lot of very talented owners that are driving it."

Terry Oldfield said when he moved into Mort Street several years before Assembly was established, he was told a residential apartment was being built in its location.

He said since Assembly had moved in residents had made more than 100 noise complaints.

"We've now spent four years fighting with them, I've lost the use of this patio," Mr Oldfield said.

He said having to listen to "the latest discotheque" and the drunks with loud or high-pitched voices rendered it unusable.

Mr Oldfield said he blamed the ACT government planning authority for creating an environment which allowed the venue to operate without enclosing its backyard.

"They failed to declare the presence of over 200 apartments. It could have been gross negligence, incompetence, or corruption, who knows?" he said.

Mr Oldfield said while Assembly's recent move to host musicians indoors had made a huge improvement, it didn't go far enough.

Mr Oldfield said the beer garden as it was would continue to cause problems for residents.

"Good town planning would tell you that you need to enclose that," he said.

In a statement, the ACT planning directorate said the impact on surrounding residents was considered in Assembly's development application in 2018.

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