By WAYNE THOMPSON
Safety concerns have forced the closure of a restaurant on the Devonport Wharf.
The North Shore City Council has ordered some areas of the wharf to be closed to the public because of corrosion on steel hand-rails and stair platforms.
The closures, ordered on Friday, follow months of dissatisfaction among wharf tenants about lack of progress with revamping of the wharf, which became a restaurant and shopping complex in 1993.
After meeting agents for the landlord, Devonport Wharf Trust, the council closed the stairway to the Torpedo Bay Restaurant and Bar, and the external promenade of the Port-O-Call Seafood Restaurant and Bar.
Torpedo Bay proprietor Brian Buttelman said he had to close the restaurant because he could not risk an accident on the stairs.
He said functions booked for the weekend had been cancelled. Food was thrown out and the livelihoods of eight staff were now at risk.
Port-O-Call proprietor Peter Restall said the restaurant would continue trading, with committed group bookings and corporate functions.
The council also gave the landlord seven days in which to report on the wharf's open public walkway to and from the ferry berth, and support columns for the front public entrance.
Ferry users were assured last night by Fullers Group that they would not be affected.
Company secretary Michael Fitchett said the company owned and maintained its ferry berthing facilities.
Agents for the Devonport Wharf Trust, which leases the wharf from Ports of Auckland, could not be reached for comment last night.
Council closes part of Devonport Wharf
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