Watson St Pavilion

An update

We want to thank our community for being patient with us as we move closer to opening our doors.

The support we felt after announcing our daughter’s illness was what you expect of a tight-knit community, kind and respectful. Effie sadly passed away at the beginning of December last year and although our grief is still overwhelming, having a project like this to work on has been incredibly important for us. She was so incredibly keen to see this become a reality and to serve all her favourite things!

We know people want to see this venue open but through conversation with the council last year, it was discovered that the premises requires a power upgrade. This was out of everyone's hands and works are scheduled to be completed by the end of April. With this date fast approaching, we will be one step closer and although we will still have some works to complete after this, the grand opening should not be too far off.

We want to thank the council for their ongoing support and understanding. They have been doing everything they can to help bring the project together so far. Alongside them, we have been working with some incredible local businesses such as Lloyd Sage, Maple St Joinery, Hartley Building Co and Orr Electrical to bring our vision to you, and we cannot wait to welcome you in when we can.

Thank you for your continued support and understanding as we navigate the opening of Watson St Pavilion alongside navigating our grief.

Rosie and Dom

27 March, 2025

To our community,

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

16 July, 2024

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An update

To our community,