Kempsey hotels re-open for business

The Great Northern opened their doors this morning with the West Kempsey Hotel scheduled to start pouring tomorrow.

The restrictions in place for pubs mean they can re-open with 50 people allowed per dining area, as long as tables are 1.5m apart and the space allocated doesn't exceed one person per four square metres.

Owner of both pubs, Dave Richards, was ecstatic to finally re-open after a long absence.

"It's fantastic, we've done it pretty tough because we had to lay off all our staff, but now they're back on job keeper which is great," he said.

"We're still going to be restricted and not running at our full capacity but we're open sooner rather than later so it's good to be back."

Richards added that people were eager for their first sip this morning, and were happy to comply with the regulations placed on hotels.

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"We had the charge of the light brigade early at 10 o'clock, we had some excited customers and new conditions of entry by law, which means people have to hand details over otherwise they're not allowed entry," he explained.

"This hasn't been an issue for people, they understand what needs to be done.

"Everyone is stoked it's open again, they're bored at home and want to come out and interact and socialise like they used to and they understand the social distancing requirements but it's good to have some form of normality back in our lives."

Due to only a weeks notice, the dining areas of both pubs won't open until Thursday with time needed to prepare and finalise a new menu.

Richards said it's great that his staff can return and once again serve the community.

"Our staff are stoked they can now return to work, albeit in restricted circumstances," he said.