An artisan food and drink premises (distillery) proposal at Wave Bowl received the planning green light on Wednesday, October 18.

The next step is obtaining approval for a manufacturing licence.

Wave Bowl's Sam Hender said the distillery will add another element and complement the existing business with the distillery more related to The Terrace at Wave Bowl multi-purpose area than tenpin bowling.

"For us [a distillery] was a slam dunk," he said.

"It's not like we needed to start a new business from scratch."

The distillery will manufacture gins and flavoured vodka onsite, which will be available at the cellar door, through The Terrace bar and online.

The distillery, called Petal and Leaf, is a project between Sam and Julianne Hender, and Dean and Monique Foster.

Mr Hender and Mr Foster will be the head distillers.

"The emphasis is on quality, not quantity," Mr Hender said.

Port Macquarie-Hastings Council's Development Assessment Panel approved the development application for the artisan food and drink premise (distillery) and modification to the Hastings River Drive recreation facility's hours of operation.

One of the consent conditions was amended to require the music/live entertainment to cease one hour before the permitted closing times.

Mr Hender said Wave Bowl is not just a bowling alley as it offers live music and entertainment.

The Terrace, a multi-purpose covered area, fosters the live music scene and promotes up-and-coming artists.

Meanwhile, a council report said the distillery area and increased hours of operation are considered to be ancillary to the primary tenpin bowling and recreational use on the site.

"The proposal is complementary to the current operations which provide a variety of recreation/entertainment uses and occupies an area less than five per cent of the site," the report said.

It is hoped to launch the distillery in early 2024.

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