Lethbridge VIC coffee stop

[440032]

Just back from a visit to Lethbridge Airpark. (Saturday morning 20.3.21)

I gather it is not well known that there is a little coffee shack there run by Simone (was it/is it?) She's been there about 2 months. I had heard half a rumour, someplace.

She's still finding what hours suit but it's basically Wednesday to Sunday, from about 0800 until after lunch. Subject to change and fine tune, especially going in to winter.

Had a superb coffee and a toasted sandwich for $11.00.

She's going to get a sign out on the road too for traffic passing on the Geelong to Ballarat route.

If you are within flying distance looking for some place to visit I can highly recommend her coffee shack. She is a pilot also and speaks pilot.

This is the type of establishment us pilots always want to find - please support her with a visit, you will be glad you did.

[pmccarthy]

Was there on Wednesday, she said Sundays are no longer open as no one came. I agree, a great stop for a $100 salami focaccia And a flat white.

[440032]

Roger that. What he said. Wed - Sat. then.

[red750]

Must be one hell of a focaccia for one hundred bucks.

[pmccarthy]

Hmmm... in my plane I should have said $200 plus the focaccia.

 

[440032]

Found this:

https://www.facebook.com/yledcafe/

Opened Jan 13th 2021!

Wed-Sat 0900-1530 currently showing.

 

100% worth supporting!

 

Edited March 21, 2021 by 440032

[F10]

Any good spots in Gippsland area? I keep my Gazelle at Yarram, it’s a great little field, nice grass roots feel and good bunch of likeminded blokes. Good scenery nearby on the coast, Wilson’s Prom and Port Albert area. Great for beach landings, for those with those overinflated tyres! Let me. Know if you’re popping over.

[Flightrite]

I hear it's defunct! The council slammed the door shut! She was rarely there anyway! There's one at YMEL but the airfield is in poor condition during this very wet winter.

[Jerry_Atrick]

On 21/08/2021 at 12:54 AM, Flightrite said:

There's one at YMEL but the airfield is in poor condition during this very wet winter.

Isn't YMEL Tullamarine? Bloody hope  the runway's not in poor condition.

 

I have to admit, the on airfield fayre is much better over here than in Aus - in general.. I still tell people who are going on road trips to skip the motorway (highway) services and head for local GA/Rec airfields. However, there have been a few where,unf., the on-airfield providers were not patronised enough...

 

Don't use 'em, you lose 'em.

 

 

[pmccarthy]

YMEL is Melton, a grass strip. Near me, but I have never landed there.

[red750]

1 hour ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

Isn't YMEL Tullamarine?

Tulla is YMML.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Gard Darnit.. Never trust Google again..

 

I used to live in Melton and visited the airfield quite a few times.. Only time I have seen a tiger snake in the wild - well a half a Tiger Snake - presume the Kookas got to it..

 

Absolutely carp airfield when I visited.. But a nice C172..

 

No cafe, though!

[440032]

https://m.facebook.com/meltonairservicescafe500/

 

Have not been there (yet).

[FlyBoy1960]

The link is broken / gone ?

[red750]

Link worked for me. Right click, open in new tab.

[onetrack]

You have to click on the blue bar in the link, to log into Farcebook to see the information. If Red750 is logged in to FB or has his system set up for FB to remember his computer, it will show him the link immediately.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Not a FB user, so can't see it...

[turboplanner]

1 hour ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

Not a FB user, so can't see it...

Well there you go, missed a photo of some coffee beans.

[Flightrite]

Its a small transportable van run by a cute chick:-) Friendly and slowly trying to build the business up but as usual our wonderful Govt are making sure that doesn't happen! Like  I've mentioned it's a poorly kept airfeild with winter taking it's toll:-( It was a thriving place in the 70-80's.

[red750]

Attended the Houdini Centenary Airshow there (Melton) in March 2010. Just a few pics from that day...

 

 

 

 

[Flightrite]

I remember the old 4 at YMEL in the 70-80's, you knew you where driving over the top as you could see it, was planed to be a cafe but was broken into numerous times, the old girl got taken apart I think I sold for scrap:-( Ah the good 'ole days:-)

[red750]

On 21/08/2021 at 9:54 AM, Flightrite said:

I hear it's defunct! The council slammed the door shut! She was rarely there anyway!

For those not on Facebook, 

 

[turboplanner]

6 hours ago, red750 said:

For those not on Facebook, 

 

There were several people on this site based at Lethbrdge a few years ago and it seemed to have a bright future.

I seem to remember officials from RAA flying in to discuss important votes for the future operation of RAA even.

So it's sad to see it go.

The above explanation does give us one Planning lesson though and that is to be careful to protect everything that makes up an airfield by defining and including EVERYTHING in the Planning Permit including the coffee shop and the circuit.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Maybe I read this wrong.. .Are the council saying they can't attract customers from outside the airfield to the airfield? Even if they coffee shop was included as something that made up an airfield, how would that have changed the council decision/direction about what I guess is putting up signage to attract customers to the coffee shop from outside the airfield?

 

If so, there is something very wrong - and airfield is, at the end of the day, just another industrial/commercial site to situate businesses and it sounds, well, just nuts.

[turboplanner]

22 minutes ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

Maybe I read this wrong.. .Are the council saying they can't attract customers from outside the airfield to the airfield? Even if they coffee shop was included as something that made up an airfield, how would that have changed the council decision/direction about what I guess is putting up signage to attract customers to the coffee shop from outside the airfield?

 

If so, there is something very wrong - and airfield is, at the end of the day, just another industrial/commercial site to situate businesses and it sounds, well, just nuts.

The permit for the airfield may have included an ancillary Use of a coffee shop.

Planning tends to work on nesting, so when the Use ceased it removed the "sub-permit" for the coffee shop.

 

An Airfield is a Defined Use in planning

The land for a small airfield out in the Country is usually in a Farm Zone

Industrial/Commercial Zones are usually in the Urban or Peri-Urban area, so not related to this case

 

An application for a coffee shop with its associated car park in a Farm Zone is unlikely to be approved.

Farm Zones do allow some financial transactions such as a rural store where Ma and Pad might put some vegetables on dislay and an honesty jar, but the rural store is limited to a tiny area of a few square metres. This alone would stop another commercial operation like a coffee shop/car park/toilets.

 

So if the airfield is closed down, the coffee shop would no longer have ancillary Use approval and its permit would fall away unless it had Existing Use Rights.