The council has officially dropped the legal proceedings against Kelly. Seeing her finally move past this weight is such a relief for all of us who spent so much time at the Waterline Cafe. Thank you for helping me protect someone who truly gave everything to our community.
December 7, 2015
Final supporters
- In January 2014 Ms Kelly Barlow opened the Waterline Cafe as part of the Little Bay Community Centre.
- Before the cafe opened there was no such facility available at the Centre to residents of Little Bay or to visitors. There were only occasional events at the Centre.
- The cafe quickly became a favourite place for residents of Little Bay to meet. The cafe played an important part in the life of the community throughout 2014.
- Kelly Barlow worked very hard to make the cafe a success.
- In the absence of regular events at the Community Centre the regular customers of the cafe were mostly the local residents. Only during hot days in summer did the cafe enjoy any flow of people, as otherwise there was no reason to be in the area.
- This meant that at other times the number of customers at the cafe was quite low.
- We understand that as the summer ended in early 2015 it became impossible for the cafe to continue to operate.
- The closure of the cafe was a real loss to the Little Bay community. In the time it was open the cafe also provided employment to a number of local people.
- We understand that the Randwick Council proposes to sue Ms Barlow for breaching her lease with the council.
- Without commenting on the legal rights and wrongs of the situation, we note that in our opinion Ms Barlow worked exceptionally hard and made a real contribution to the quality of life at Little Bay.
- It is also the case that despite the closure of the cafe in April 2015, there is now no cafe for the community to use that is close to the beach at Little Bay.
- We also understand that the closure of the cafe has caused Ms Barlow to suffer very significant ongoing financial hardship.
We petition the Randwick Council not to take any legal proceedings against Ms Barlow. It is our opinion that legal proceedings in the circumstances are not in the public interest and will only cause further hardship to Ms Barlow
Updates
September 24, 2015
Seeing this groundswell of support reminds me exactly why Kelly deserves better than a legal battle. It feels as though the entire community is finally gathering around the person who gave us such a warm place to call our own.
Reached 100 supporters
September 24, 2015
63 Comments
I do not agree that the council should sue ms Barlow. I think the council did not support her endeavour fully at the time by severely restricting her marketing and promoting at little bay which I believe also contributed to the cafe's limited customer base.
My family and I loved being at Waterline Cafe. Kelly worked relentlessly to provide a lovely space and beautiful food. As a local ratepayer, I don't want my rates being used to bring legal proceedings against Kelly.
Kelly's Waterline cafe was just delightful. It brought the community centre to life. I saw how hard Kelly & Jess & staff worked - it makes no sense to me that randwick council is using our rates to sue Kelly. Please decide not to.
I am against Ms Barlow being sued for the unfortunate closure of her Café which was due to circumstances beyond her control. Ms Barlow worked tirelessly to create a wonderful place that people in the community could enjoy and should not be sued for her regrettable closure of the Café.
If the Council had given Kelly & the Cafe more support it could have continued as the friendly community hub which was valued by many Little Bay residents both young & old. It's sad to see so little support for small businesses when we know what value they can bring.
Small business is the life blood of any community
I saw first hand how hard Kelly worked and I feel she did everything in her power to make it work.
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The council has officially dropped the legal proceedings against Kelly. Seeing her finally move past this weight is such a relief for all of us who spent so much time at the Waterline Cafe. Thank you for helping me protect someone who truly gave everything to our community.
December 7, 2015
Final supporters
- In January 2014 Ms Kelly Barlow opened the Waterline Cafe as part of the Little Bay Community Centre.
- Before the cafe opened there was no such facility available at the Centre to residents of Little Bay or to visitors. There were only occasional events at the Centre.
- The cafe quickly became a favourite place for residents of Little Bay to meet. The cafe played an important part in the life of the community throughout 2014.
- Kelly Barlow worked very hard to make the cafe a success.
- In the absence of regular events at the Community Centre the regular customers of the cafe were mostly the local residents. Only during hot days in summer did the cafe enjoy any flow of people, as otherwise there was no reason to be in the area.
- This meant that at other times the number of customers at the cafe was quite low.
- We understand that as the summer ended in early 2015 it became impossible for the cafe to continue to operate.
- The closure of the cafe was a real loss to the Little Bay community. In the time it was open the cafe also provided employment to a number of local people.
- We understand that the Randwick Council proposes to sue Ms Barlow for breaching her lease with the council.
- Without commenting on the legal rights and wrongs of the situation, we note that in our opinion Ms Barlow worked exceptionally hard and made a real contribution to the quality of life at Little Bay.
- It is also the case that despite the closure of the cafe in April 2015, there is now no cafe for the community to use that is close to the beach at Little Bay.
- We also understand that the closure of the cafe has caused Ms Barlow to suffer very significant ongoing financial hardship.
We petition the Randwick Council not to take any legal proceedings against Ms Barlow. It is our opinion that legal proceedings in the circumstances are not in the public interest and will only cause further hardship to Ms Barlow
Updates
September 24, 2015
Seeing this groundswell of support reminds me exactly why Kelly deserves better than a legal battle. It feels as though the entire community is finally gathering around the person who gave us such a warm place to call our own.
Reached 100 supporters
September 24, 2015
63 Comments
I worked part time for Kelly at the cafe, she always worked her hardest to produce great tasting food and to keep a nice open spaced atmosphere where people could enjoy a relaxing coffee or meal. I had a great experience working for Ms. Barlow.
I do not agree that the council should sue ms Barlow. I think the council did not support her endeavour fully at the time by severely restricting her marketing and promoting at little bay which I believe also contributed to the cafe's limited customer base.
My family and I loved being at Waterline Cafe. Kelly worked relentlessly to provide a lovely space and beautiful food. As a local ratepayer, I don't want my rates being used to bring legal proceedings against Kelly.
Kelly's Waterline cafe was just delightful. It brought the community centre to life. I saw how hard Kelly & Jess & staff worked - it makes no sense to me that randwick council is using our rates to sue Kelly. Please decide not to.
I am against Ms Barlow being sued for the unfortunate closure of her Café which was due to circumstances beyond her control. Ms Barlow worked tirelessly to create a wonderful place that people in the community could enjoy and should not be sued for her regrettable closure of the Café.
If the Council had given Kelly & the Cafe more support it could have continued as the friendly community hub which was valued by many Little Bay residents both young & old. It's sad to see so little support for small businesses when we know what value they can bring.
Small business is the life blood of any community
I saw first hand how hard Kelly worked and I feel she did everything in her power to make it work.
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I worked part time for Kelly at the cafe, she always worked her hardest to produce great tasting food and to keep a nice open spaced atmosphere where people could enjoy a relaxing coffee or meal. I had a great experience working for Ms. Barlow.