'Put our whole heart and soul into Pippies': Vow to open in new location

The popular restaurant's long run at the tourist attraction finished during the Easter weekend after the owners of Pippies and the city council couldn't come to an agreement over the lease.

Pippies' owners David and Mandy Stoddart have vowed to soon reopen in a new location and create "something as special again".

The terms of the new - and much shorter - lease at the Flagstaff Hill venue came with a clause that would allow the council to end any new lease at any time to make way for potential future works to upgrade the tourist facility.

In February, councillors voted to push ahead with an ambitious revamp of Flagstaff Hill which could include a geothermal spa and hotel accommodation but any works would require private investment and outside funding.

The council's chief executive officer Andrew Mason said when the existing lease ended, a new one had been put forward to the operators of Pippies.

"A key clause in any new lease/contract offered at the venue will include council reserving the right to end a lease in order to undertake work at the site as outlined in the Flagstaff Re-Imagined plan adopted by council in 2023," he said.

But for the owners of Pippies, it didn't provide enough certainty for them to continue operating at the site which the couple have called their work place for almost two decades.

"We don't want to end Pippies," Mrs Stoddart said.

"This is not the end.

"Our idea is to hopefully reopen somewhere else in a smaller venue.

"We're looking for somewhere over the next two months."

It was an emotional end on Saturday, March 30, 2024 when the last tables were cleared.

"I had people crying. I was crying. It was not something we wanted to do," she said.

"We put our whole heart and soul into Pippies.

"We spent three days cleaning and scrubbing out and we turned off the lights and I just became so overwhelmed. It was just the worst feeling of letting go."

Mr Stoddart said they just couldn't come to an agreement on the lease. Mrs Stoddart said the previous lease was for seven years and they had hoped to get the same again.

The city council has offered more detail around the lease negotiations and said the termination clause included in the initial offer of a five-year lease offered to Pippies owners that related to the site's possible redevelopment included a requirement for the council to provide at least six months' notice.

"This five-year lease was not agreed to by the operators of Pippies," the council said.

The council then offered an 18-month lease without the redevelopment termination clause, the council said, which was also not agreed to.

Ms Stoddart said the clause was the "breaking point".

"It is extremely hard to run a restaurant when there is no future," she said.

She said it was a restaurant that received bookings years in advance for events such as weddings.

"How do you sell vouchers? How do you book in functions on a short-term lease?" Mrs Stoddart said

"It's a family business that we want to continue and that we were going to pass onto our son.

"We were both heartbroken, as was our son Max. We've been there for a long long time."

Mr Stoddart had been a chef at the location for almost 19 years, and Mrs Stoddart worked for the previous owner before the couple bought the business.

"We've owned it for coming up 11 years but we both worked there before that," she said.

"It was really sad. We get people from all over Australia and the world that had heard about us which was amazing.

"We want to keep that going. Hopefully we can open up something as special again and there'll be a future for us."

The council said "if need be" a new tenant would be sought "for what remains a prime location with great views across Lake Pertobe and Lady Bay".

*This story was originally published with information supplied by the council about the lease offer. The story has been updated after the council supplied extra information.