We would like to thank you for your patience as we took some time to find the right time to announce our tenancy at the Riverfront Kiosk. We can appreciate that there has been much confusion and interest in what’s happening at the location and we apologise for the delay.
We are Dom and Rosie, Dom grew up on Perricoota Road and works on his family farm while Rosie grew up in New Zealand but has called the area home since 2016 and we have two beautiful girls, Effie and Safa. Since January 2022, we have been dreaming and planning a vision for the Riverfront Kiosk, at that point in time the previous tender, which was unfulfilled, had just closed. So while we waited for the space to come up for tender again we got to work on our business plan and had it ready to go by the time the next tender opened again and we were successful in winning that tender in late June last year, 2023. It was great timing for us as we managed to sell our much loved business on High Street (The Curators Club) at the end of its lease with the intention to put everything into our new venture. From there, the planning process began, we engaged Lloyd Sage to design our fit out and we had begun to engage builders. There was a lot of work to do including getting a certificate of occupancy for the building and the plan was to be officially signing the lease in mid September 2023 and opening the doors soon after.
Unfortunately on the 11th of September our (then) 4 year old daughter Effie, was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive brain tumour which has had us chasing treatment in Melbourne and Sydney for the past 10 months.
The Campaspe Shire council have been very supportive of our family through this time and immediately granted us a 12 month extension on compassionate grounds. During this 12 month period the council wanted to see the kiosk utilised and so granted a short pop up lease which has demonstrated to the public just how amazing a business could be in this location. Thank you to My Dads Honey for taking on the task, we wish you well with your future endeavours.
The battle with Effie's cancer and her treatment is still ongoing and will be for an unknown amount of time. We are in the midst of organising how we can bring you our vision of the Watson St Pavilion and we appreciate your patience during this time.
We would like to reiterate our appreciation for the support that Campaspe Shire has provided us and we would like to null some untruths. We have no personal link to the Campaspe Shire, we are not councillors nor did we receive any special treatment during the tender process.
Again we thank you for your patience and ask that you please consider kindness and respect if you decide to comment on this matter.
Sincerely,
Rosie Scott and Dominic Garden
