Grey Gum Cafe — Restaurant in New South Wales

Greetings from 🇿🇦 Please help an Ozzy institution. Find them on Facebook, Grey Gum Cafe

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ICONIC TOURIST DESTINATION UNDER THREAT

The world-famous Grey Gums International Café is being subjected to a sustained campaign of harassment and intimidation by Singleton Council, and could face closure.

Located on the stunning Putty Road about halfway between Windsor and Singleton, the café has been a veritable oasis for travellers, who have been stopping, reviving, and surviving by enjoying a coffee or a meal for more than decade.

Owned and operated by Kim Grace, the café has been an integral and much-loved icon for anyone travelling to or from the Hunter Valley. It is popular with car drivers, truckies, and motorcyclists, and has been the base for NSW RFS crews during every bushfire crisis, and operates as a Stop, Revive and Survive waypoint under contract with the NSW Roads and Maritime Services.

The café also provides toilets, showers, free overnight stop-overs, and has a satellite phone, tools, and a helping hand 24-hours-a-day for people who might need it. Rescue helicopters use it as a landing pad if they’re called to traffic accidents on the Putty Road.

Over the last year, Singleton Council has conducted a campaign of intimidation and harassment, seeking to have Kim Grace remove existing structures which were improved and made safer after being continuously damaged by bad weather, and for the benefit of the café’s patrons, who use them to shelter under when they take a break from the drive or ride.

Council repeatedly ignores the illegal and drug-fuelled rave parties which take place on nearby properties and which attract hundreds of people, and focus instead on intimidating 63-year-old Kim Grace, threatening to shut her down, repeatedly refusing to have meetings with her, or enter into any discussions to solve the issues council imagines itself to have.

This is obviously an egregious over-reach by a council unable or unwilling to deal with illegal and potentially dangerous rave parties, and which would rather focus on intimidating a woman whose business it is to welcome and look after people.

Kim Grace is available for comment or interview

info @ greygumcafe. net. au 4. 3. 8. 5. 5. 6. 3. 8. 3

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Stopped here for lunch and coffee during a busy time of day, food and coffee tasted okay but was a bit on the pricier side. The reason for the poor rating was the bad service given by the cashier. I understand that they were busy, but she was very rude, sarcastic and unprofessional. Everyone else was okay. Another reason for the poor rating is due to low standards of food handling hygiene. We noticed that there were staff members cooking food with long hair not tied up, gloves weren’t worn when handling food, and there were animals (dogs) free roaming through the kitchen area.

Response to Kim: I understand the logistical challenges that would account into food costs, I was just stating that it’s pricer, and now others know it’s due to the location of your cafe. We didn’t use the toilet facilities on our visit so I can’t comment on it, I think it’s great that you have them open to the public 24/7 and I’m sure many have appreciated it. As for that one staff’s professionalism, my partner and I noticed the difference in her attitude between how she served a few people in front of us and how she served us. The interaction felt like a standoff and it was as if we offended her somehow by trying to order. I can empathise being new, working in a customer service role myself, and if I was new, I would not have spoken to customers the way she did. You may not have been there during the interaction, but we were, and we felt her tone was rude and unprofessional. For food handling hygiene, one lady clearly didn’t have her hair tied up, she had long hair, and we witnessed her touching her hair before touching the food. I think it’s great that the dogs are there to serve customers with different needs in the cafe. However, we seen the dogs with our own eyes, walking in and out of that kitchen. I think your establishment provides essential services for the location it’s in, the review was just sharing our genuine experience - it was not meant to intentionally “harm” your google ratings, so telling us we are not welcomed again after giving a less positive feedback says a lot, and for that, we...

Lots of staff but no organisation even though they had an event on. I order 2 drinks and a peri chic roll which was advertised but it was not on their cash register (first red flag). after a hour waiting and talking to people complaining about also waiting so long I saw people who order after me receiving their food so i asked for an updated on my meal, I saw them running around confused looking for my order and I heard one of them say "just tell him i will make it now", i understand they may be overwhlmed by the lunch time rush but I believe I would still be waiting if I didnt speak up (2nd red flag)... Disappointed I asked for my money back as my group was leaving and recieved an unfriendly look from the staff (final straw). Unless you need to use the toilet I would be forwarding my warning to avoid this place next time we go down putty road, their are many other nicer places to stop for food next time. I think the staff have been writing some of the...