Marlene Miller hopes the healing power of music can continue at a beloved Kiama venue. Photo: Karen Lateo.
An 83-year-old loyal patron of a beloved Kiama cafe has joined a chorus of outraged voices devastated by a council decision to refuse an application which would allow Fillmore’s to expand operations as a live music venue and bar.
Music-lover Marlene Miller sees Fillmore’s as a “beacon of hope and love”.
The 83-year-old first experienced the venue just three years ago but quickly became a loyal patron and familiar face.
“Fillmore’s is my happy place and everyone feels like a big family to me and in this often sad and difficult world, that is a great blessing and I’m grateful for it,” Marlene said.
“Fillmore’s to me is the most accepting, caring, non-discriminating venue I have ever in my 83 years encountered.
“I feel completely at ease, safe, accepted, cared for in every way.”
She said the venue allowed her to connect with people of all walks of life for shared experiences of music and joy.
“Music to me keeps me going,” Marlene said.
“I have ill health. I’ve got osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, all those things and problems with mobility; two years ago I had bacterial pneumonia and was very ill, and Fillmore’s is the place that I go and I forget about my ailments; the joy of the music just uplifts me and I forget about negativity.”
But the music at Fillmore’s that fulfills Marlene is set to be silenced, with a DA to allow the beloved cafe to increase patronage and operating hours as a bar and restaurant with outdoor seating and live music refused by Kiama Council.
The determination comes following a public exhibition period which demonstrated overwhelming support from the community, however a range of concerns regarding waste management, vehicle and pedestrian safety and access as well as noise impacts led to it being refused.
83-year old Marlene and 86-year-old husband Tom feel safe and welcomed at Fillmore’s. Photo: Karen Lateo.
“Council acknowledges that there has been plenty of community support for the development proposal but unfortunately the development application as it stands was unable to be approved after detailed assessment by staff,” a Kiama Council spokesperson said.
“Both the notice of determination and full assessment report provide the clear rationale for the decision. The report also documents a wide range of compliance and application concerns and show staff’s unwavering commitment to working through issues and maintaining open lines of communication with the applicant in both pre and post lodgement phase.”
Of the 15 reasons released in the determination, the final one includes that the development “is not considered to be in the public interest”.
“I found this a rather insulting statement to residents and constituents because music has always been at the forefront of Kiama,” Marlene said.
“Music is a universal language; music is a panacea; music elevates mental health; music elevates people both young and old.
“I urge the council and town planning to reconsider this decision.”
Fillmore’s owner Morgan Lewis was initially under the impression the decision would ultimately be made at a council meeting because of the public interest and was shocked by the sudden determination.
“The process has gone on for a long time and we took it really seriously,” he said.
“We made sure we had a meeting before you submit a DA where you put a request in and pay to meet and they all come in and sit around a table with my consultants and they put forward any issues that they see with the DA.
“They gave us a list off the back of that and we went back and updated it accordingly to suit what they thought would be a better application. This went on throughout the process. We probably got between four and six lists of which we addressed every issue.
“So to have these issues come up made no sense at all.”
The venue was even successful in receiving a state government grant to do further soundproofing if the DA was approved.
Now, financial restraints limit the options moving forward for the small family-run business, but Morgan hopes the power of the people may help change the minds of decision-makers.
“We’ve been overwhelmed just with how much people have been getting in touch, coming and seeing us, sending emails, sending copies of letters they’re sending to council and councillors and people are telling me there’s a lot of activity of social media which is great,” he said.
“I hope common sense will prevail and there’s an opportunity here for councillors to go, actually enough is enough, we do not need to waste any more resources on this, let’s sit down in a room, which I’ve done many times with the planning staff, director of planning and the mayor, let’s sit down in a room and work out these ‘problems’.”
Marlene believed that given the chance, the venue could continue to bring people together, rather than be a cause of conflict.
“Kiama is a unique and wonderful place in which to live and it saddens me greatly to see divisions within the community,” Marlene said.
“Please, I urge you, give Fillmore’s a chance to soundproof the venue, let’s make the world a better place by resolving our differences.”
The full reasoning and further explanation from Kiama Council is available on its website.
