Daylesford pub did not hold valid outdoor dining permit at time of deadly crash, court hears

A Victorian court has heard that a regional pub where five people died in a road accident did not have a valid outdoor dining permit at the time of the crash.

In November 2023, five people were dining outside The Royal Daylesford Hotel in central Victoria when a vehicle left the road, crashing into two families.

Pratibha Sharma, 44, her daughter Anvi, nine, partner Jatin Kumar, 30, their friend Vivek Bhatia, 38, and his son Vihaan, 11, were killed while six others were injured.

William Swale, now 69, had a severe hypoglycaemic episode before the collision, and has previously given evidence to the coronial inquiry.

The inquiry continued today in the Coroner's Court of Victoria in Melbourne.

Hepburn Shire Council director development and community Ron Torres gave evidence in the court today, and confirmed the hotel did not have an active outdoor dining permit at the time of the collision.

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 by the council in September 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."

When asked about any site inspections or risk assessments undertaken by the council, 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 by the Hepburn Shire Council until September 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."

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.

The inquiry will continue tomorrow.