Bretts Wharf restaurant at Newstead off the chopping block

Bretts Wharf head chef Alastair McLeod jumps for joy at the reprieve and (inset) Kingsford Smith Drive. Picture: Rob Maccoll Source: The Courier-Mail

The famous eatery - which is to be resumed for the upgrade - had planned to close for good on January 27 and cancelled all wedding and function bookings for next year.

But the stay of execution - the result of a lack of government funding for the project - means they are now scrambling to fill the booking sheet.

Brisbane City Council says the restaurant can now stay for three more years, maybe longer. “We all feel simply gutted that we had to cancel people’s weddings for what is now, apparently, no reason,” Bretts Wharf long-term chef Alastair McLeod said.

The uncertainty is another example of the cost of government bungling on small business.

The Courier-Mail is running the “Back Off Small Business” campaign, aimed at giving small operators relief from the increasing costs of doing business.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland president David Goodwin said land resumptions were sometimes unavoidable inconveniences for small businesses but the city council should take some steps to help Bretts Wharf following the uncertainty.

“I think if council can make it up to them with very accommodating rent, it could be a good outcome for as long as it remains,” he said.

“Provided they were given this sort of recompense at the right rate in the first instance, this could even come as a bonus.”

The flagged improvements to the busy Kingsford Smith Drive arterial were among several road projects temporarily shelved by Brisbane City Council to free up money for the flood recovery earlier this year.

But as recently as June, Lord Mayor Graham Quirk indicated the venture was council’s next priority after the Legacy Way tunnel.

Stage one of the three-stage project has been completed and a further $1.5 million was allocated in the recent BCC budget for a planning study for stage two, from Theodore St to Riverview Tce.

A spokesman from the Lord Mayor’s office yesterday confirmed the Bretts Wharf land was still required to complete the upgrade but stages two and three required state and federal funding, which is yet to be secured.

The spokesman said council would continue pushing for the money but could not give a timetable for the next stages of the project.

“The timing and extent of further design work and construction will depend on securing further funding,” he said.