Chris and Val Kreketos have owned The Bakers Oven cafe in Sydney’s historic The Rocks precinct for 41 years.
According to A Current Affairs, the siblings were prepared to close their cafe this month after the New South Wales government refused to renew their lease.
The NSW Deputy Secretary for Cities and Active Transport, Kiersten Fishburn, said the decision to refuse the lease renewal wasn’t personal.
“It’s not a matter of taking money from someone, we need to go out into the marketplace, renew and refresh licences and make sure we’re getting the best value for the people of NSW,” she told A Current Affair.
This decision received criticism on social media from the public and loyal supporters of The Bakers Oven cafe.
In response, the new NSW Minister for Transport, Jo Halen, has since intervened to investigate the circumstances behind the Kreketos’ eviction. Ms Halen has put their exit on hold for at least a month.
This reprieve will allow the Bakers Oven Cafe to continue operating during Sydney’s Vivid festival in May and they will be able to hopefully recover some of the losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Please come down and have a fresh coffee and a lovely fresh cake and see what you’ll be missing if all this goes away,” Val said.
Source: A Current Affair
