Kiama Council has responded to widespread community backlash over last week’s refusal of the development application at Manning Street cafe Fillmore’s.

The venue is seeking to expand its operations to trade as a bar and restaurant later into evenings.

However, Council staff rejected the application, citing a range of issues behind the decision, including noise concerns and impact on existing developments.

Council issued a statement on Thursday acknowledging there had been plenty of community support for the development proposal but “unfortunately the development application as it stands was unable to be approved after detailed assessment by staff”.

The report compiled by Council officers identified valid land use planning issues relating to pedestrian and public safety, land encroachment, access, lack of laneway right of use, acoustic impacts and compliance with applicable planning and regulatory requirements

Council said it was committed to working through issues and maintaining open lines of communication with Fillmore’s.

“Community submissions, for and against, were also considered and do form part of the assessment process, however, Council staff must consider a wide range of statutory and planning matters.

“Unfortunately, the application did not adequately address these issues at the submission and assessment stages and was therefore unable to be approved.”

The Council statement added that “staff undertake their roles in good faith and in accordance with delegations and statutory obligations.

“Planning decisions are not personal, they are based on land use and statutory considerations. Council respects the right of community members to have views and reactions to decisions whether they support or disagree with the decision.”

Fillmore’s owner Morgan Lewis has received plenty of support from local residents after posting on social media his disappointment at Council’s decision “despite a ‘record number of submissions’ from the community and 92% of those being in support of our application”.

“This has come as a shock to all of us & we were inundated over the weekend with support & complete confusion from our community.

“Fillmore's has become such an integral part of our town and plays such a big role much more broadly as a cultural hub & key component for touring musicians.

“We worked tirelessly with the (Council) team for the past 14 months, attending 4 official meetings and 2 site meetings where we welcomed any issues raised and our consultants addressed them, adding necessary reports to support the application.

“Every meeting there was a new list longer than the last and every list comes with a large bill as we continue to engage lawyers, acoustic engineers, traffic consultants, building code consultants, architects, town planners & surveyors.

"Have we got this wrong, Is this not what our community desires?”

He added that Fillmore’s “truly want what’s best for our community and we will always fight for the arts, for live & all original music, for safe & inclusive spaces, for a community that is not mono demographic, for variety, for a space free of gambling, for fun, for nights that open our mind culturally and light a fire within us reminding us what we love & why we love it.”

Lewis reiterated that Fillmore's remains open and they will “dust ourselves off & keep moving forward for the greater good”.