Aussie butcher’s free sausage sizzle shut down by council as he braces for possible $1,600 fine: ‘Just wrong’
A Gold Coast butcher claims he has been told to brace for a fine of up to $1,600 after a council inspector ordered him to stop his popular free weekly sausage sizzle.
Maaki Tyson, co-owner of Lakeside Quality Meats in Palm Beach, had his community event shut down after an inspector said he was running it without a 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,’ he told news.com.au.
Mr Tyson said he, along with many customers, wasn’t happy with the way the news was delivered, saying the inspector was ‘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.’
Adding insult to injury, Mr Tyson said he was told to expect a fine in the mail of up to $1,600 for the event, which costs about $35,000 a year to run.
A Gold Coast butcher claims he has been told to brace for a fine of up to $1,600 after a council inspector ordered him to stop 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.’
This wasn’t Mr Tyson’s first warning from the council, with an inspector previously raising concerns about signage.
However, Mr Tyson said there was no mention of how the event was being conducted at the time.
‘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.
Despite the disappointment of having his sausage sizzle shut down and facing a possible fine, Mr Tyson appreciated the support he received from both the public and 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, had his community event shut down after an inspector said he was running it without a permit
‘We’re not going to take it lying down,’ he said.
Social media users rallied behind Mr Tyson, with some criticising the council’s move.
‘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.
