A Gold Coast butcher says he has been warned that he could face a fine of up to $1,600 after a council inspector shut down his popular free weekly sausage sizzle.
Maaki Tyson, co-owner of Lakeside Quality Meats in Palm Beach, was told to stop the community barbecue because it was allegedly being held without the required permit.
“He said you haven’t got a permit for the barbecue, you haven’t got a permit for the roadside dining or the table,” Mr Tyson told news.com.au.
Mr Tyson said he and several customers were unhappy with the way the inspector delivered the message, describing the official as being “about as popular as a fart in a space suit”.
“I’m like, well hang on, it’s a free community event,” he said.
“I think he was doing his job, but the way he went about it was just wrong.”
“A lot of customers were pretty upset and probably vocalised that to him, but he hung around for about an hour or so until we’d finished cleaning everything up.”
Mr Tyson said the situation was made worse when he was told a fine of up to $1,600 could arrive in the mail. The weekly event costs the business about $35,000 a year to run.
A Gold Coast butcher says he could face a fine of up to $1,600 after a council inspector stopped his popular free weekly sausage sizzle
“We just wanted to help our business but also help the community, so we get some homeless people that live in a park across the road,” he said.
“They come over on Saturday.”
“We get people after they’ve been to the local market; also kids after sport; it’s just become a fun thing to do.”
The latest intervention was not Mr Tyson’s first contact with the council. An inspector had previously raised concerns about signage at the Palm Beach butcher shop.
However, Mr Tyson said that earlier warning did not address the way the sausage sizzle was being run.
“We had a council officer come a couple of months ago and give us a warning, because we had a couple of signs out, but he said nothing at all about the barbecue or the seating or anything,” he said.
Although he was disappointed that the sausage sizzle had been stopped and that he may receive a fine, Mr Tyson said he was grateful for the support from members of the public and the media.
“If we can’t have it the way it is, we’ll work our way around it,” he said.
Maaki Tyson, co-owner of Lakeside Quality Meats in Palm Beach, says his community sausage sizzle was shut down over an alleged lack of permits
“We’re not going to take it lying down,” he said.
Social media users have rallied behind Mr Tyson, with some criticising the council’s decision to shut down the free community event.
‘How about the council worry about other stuff than what these amazing butchers are doing,’ one said.
‘I know there are laws but they are helping their community, surely this exempts them,’ a second said.
‘This defies belief, feeding the homeless is such a wonderful human thing to do,’ a third said.
A City of Gold Coast spokesman confirmed to news.com.au that council officers ‘attended a business in Philippine Parade Palm Beach on Saturday, October 17’.
‘The City will continue to work with the business to ensure all future events comply with relevant health and safety requirements,’ he said.
Daily Mail has contacted the City of Gold Coast for additional comment.