There is plague of rodents in the uber smart suburb of Double Bay according to 'Mr Double Bay' Graeme Goldberg the owner of the popular restaurant Dee Bees.
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| Ritz Carlton Double Bay |
Writing in the latest copy of Latte Life where he has a regular column, Goldberg says he and fellow business owners signed a petition asking the Woollahra Council to hire a pest controller. The matter was raised in a council meeting by councillor Andrew Petrie but apparently a Greens councillor nipped it in the bud claiming it was a problem for local business owners.
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| Diana at The Ritz |
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| Graeme Goldberg |
Says Goldberg "Mate you gotta be joking. they're coming out of the drains and last time I checked the Pied Piper of Hamlin didn't own a property in Double Bay. I suggest the council send the experts to the old cinema and the closed down Stanford Hotel"
The Stanford is a sorry sight at present. It closed nearly two years ago and in a previous life it was one of the chicest 5 star hotels in Sydney- The Ritz Carlton.
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| Bob'n'Blanche Hawke |
As the Ritz it enjoyed an illustrious clientele including most visiting celebrities like Tom Jones, Whoopi Goldberg and Bob Dylan. Two US presidents stayed there -George Bush Sr and Bill Clinton and it was a home away from home for the late Princess Diana on her very last visit to Australia. Former Prime Minister Bob Hawke lived there for a year when he left office and was married there to wife Blanche and the late singer Michael Hutchence died in a first floor suite on a Saturday morning in 1997.
As the Standford Hotel the inn gradually declined in favour and a new owner plans to turn the site into luxury apartments but is having problems with local council height restrictions. At present the building remains empty and uninhabited like the suburb's former cinema in New South Head Road.
Goldberg and others want action and believe the problem will escalate fast : "The Bay has always had rats but they wear suits and sip Chardonnay. If there is vermin breeding you don't have to be Einstein to know where to start looking"
