Paddington's beloved late-night pit stop, Indian Home Diner has been saved thanks in large part to a mammoth show of support by the Sydney community at large.
In case you missed it, a decision was made by Woollahra Council back in April to enforce the diner's trading hours to their DA approved 11.30am-midnight, despite the popular business trading until 3am for the past decade.
The diner applied in November 2021 to Woollahra Municipal Council to make their usual opening hours – Friday and Saturday 11.30am to 3am, and Monday to Thursday and Sunday 11.30am to 11pm – official. However, the application was rejected in March 2022. A few reasons were given in the refusal – including that the application didn’t demonstrate satisfactory crowd and litter management, didn’t "protect the amenity" of the adjoining residential properties and is "not deemed to be in the public interest".
The community-focused group Bondi Lines (which became a household name in late 2021 and early 2022 with its real-time updates on wait times for Covid testing facilities) kickstarted a petition to save the beloved eatery, citing that the shop is much more to the community than just a place to get a feed. The funds raised allowed owner and operator Robert Chowdury to stay afloat while the new shortened trading hours were in effect, as well as to cover the costs of appealing the council's decision.
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Punters everywhere came together to save the diner, including Federal member for Wentworth Allegra Spender, who called the diner a “national treasure”. The Unicorn in partnership with Uber Eats even got in on the action by hosting a Rave 2 Save Indian Home Diner.
Just goes to show the power of community!