Daylesford pub had no outdoor dining permit at time of deadly crash, court told

The crash occurred outside The Royal Daylesford Hotel in 2023. (ABC News) Pratibha Sharma, her daughter Anvi, partner Jatin Kumar, their friend Vivek Bhatia and his son Vihaan were killed. (Supplied) Mr Torres told the court that The Royal Daylesford Hotel first made an application for outdoor dining in 2020, which was granted. The permit expired at the end of June 2022, but all businesses were given extensions on their permits until July 2023. Proprietors applied for a licence renewal within days of being contacted 2023. When asked what not having a valid outdoor dining licence meant, Mr Torres said: "It means there was no formal permission to have the equipment, or outdoor tables and chairs, in that location." The Royal Daylesford Hotel, pictured after the fatal crash. (ABC News: Kristofor Lawson) When asked about any site inspections or risk assessments undertaken , Mr Torres said he was not aware of any records of inspections of The Royal Daylesford Hotel and its outdoor space. Mr Torres was not employed 2023.  "Beyond alerting the hotel that they didn't have a valid permit and going through a process of encouraging [them] to apply, I'm not sure of further actions beyond then," Mr Torres said. "I don't know if any compliance conversations occurred." Hepburn Shire Council plans to close off Albert Street near The Royal Daylesford Hotel. (ABC Ballarat: Coco Veldkamp) The inquiry also heard the Hepburn Shire Council had since undertaken its own review of its outdoor dining permit processes, which included a road safety audit. The speed limit through the town was changed from 50km/h to 40km/h. In April the council announced the intersection where the accident occurred would be turned into a green zone and completely closed to drivers. Representing loved ones of the deceased, Rishi Nathwani KC questioned whether the council's outdoor dining risk assessment was appropriate. "Does the council accept, given that the current [outdoor dining] policy is being reviewed, it needs to have greater risk assessment built into it?" Mr Nathwani asked. "Yes," Mr Torres said. Mr Torres told the court that the council had just two council officers who may have undertaken site inspections at the time of the crash. "The local laws council was two inspectors servicing a large municipality. That is a limitation in itself," he said. Coroner Dimitria Dubrow asked her own questions about the council's capacity of enforcement and review. "Is it possible that a business could have made an application in that time frame but the process could take some time, so a business therefore would not have a permit in place at the time?" Coroner Dubrow said. "That is a possible, if not likely, scenario," Mr Torres said.