A popular brewery’s years-long dispute with Sunshine Coast Council has hit another hurdle.
Coolum Brewing Co Pty Ltd, which operates Coolum Beer Co at 2 Junction Drive, Coolum Beach, filed a Planning and Environment Court appeal on August 24, challenging an enforcement notice issued by council.
It is the second court appeal in the almost three-year battle.
The latest notice ordered Coolum Brewing Co to comply with council-approved trading hours after officers allegedly found it operating outside them.
Coolum Brewing Co argued the notice should be set aside because the trading-hours condition it is accused of breaching is already the subject of an unresolved 2025 court appeal.
“There is no town planning impact or other matter of public interest which warrants the issue of the enforcement notice prior to determination of the conditions appeal,” the appeal stated.
As previously reported by Sunshine Coast News, the original appeal was lodged in May 2025 after council refused to amend a condition restricting the operating hours of the venue’s food and drink outlet.
The approved hours were 4pm to 9pm Monday to Thursday, 4pm to 11pm Friday, 10am to 11pm Saturday and 10am to 9pm Sunday or public holidays.
In the first appeal, the brewery stated it wanted to open the food and drink outlet from midday Monday to Friday, while retaining the approved weekend and public holiday hours.
It said most brewery production activity would be finished before the food and drink outlet opened, meaning the two uses would largely occur at different times and would not increase peak parking demand.
The wider dispute dates back to November 2023, when Coolum Brewing Co lodged a development application seeking to formalise its food service, which was already operating from the industrial premises.
Council approved the application in 2024 and the brewery subsequently sought changes to conditions attached to the approval.
A negotiated decision was issued in April 2025 before the brewery took the trading-hours condition to court the following month.
The venue continues to operate, with its website currently advertising opening from 11.30am Wednesday to Sunday. Its kitchen is advertised as opening from midday to 7.30pm on those days.
The enforcement notice at the centre of the latest court appeal followed council inspections of the venue this year when an officer photographed a banner advertising an 11am opening on May 25, 2026.
Two days later, at 1pm, council alleged an inspection found between 10 and 15 customers drinking alcohol and a staff member serving drinks.
Council subsequently issued a show cause notice.
A further inspection in July allegedly found the brewery open to the public before midday, with customers drinking alcohol.
Council also said advertised trading hours identified online were inconsistent with the approved hours and that no representations had been received in response to the show cause notice before an enforcement notice was issued in late July.
The enforcement notice required Coolum Brewing Co to comply with the existing trading-hours condition by 4pm on August 25.
The brewery filed its second appeal one day before that deadline.
Coolum Brewery Co is also disputing council’s allegation it is carrying out assessable development without necessary approvals.
It argues the use of the site “was for the dominant purpose of brewing beer for sale off-premises” and “falls within the definition of ‘Medium Impact Industry’” under the Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014.
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The appeal states the majority of the premises is used for brewing, production and packaging of alcohol and distribution to wholesale customers, with no increase in gross floor area.
It is asking the court to allow the appeal, set aside the enforcement notice and order council to pay its costs.
The case remains before the court.
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