Leave the slots whatever you do, or at least one of them - the room is only narrow and once you have people seated at the table, serving will become impossible. Even people walking in and out the door trying to "help" serving or removing used dishes will make the area very congested.

If you want to do anything structurally, and there is bench space under the slots, I would drop them down to bench level to make them more practical. I have a similar situation with my dining room, and honestly, I just could not do without the hatch now, especially when all the family is here.

Once you move into the house and really start living in it, little things like this will become obvious, this is why I always recommend people live in a house and decide their lifestyle and needs before doing anything. Even take time with your colour schemes, aspect and light are such an important part of the success of colours used, it really is a good idea to live in a house through all 4 seasons to know whether to use warm or cool shades to best suit the room.

Your dining room is a classic example - if that room faces south, the present wall colour could create a cosy intimate room on a Bathurst winter night, if it faced west, it would be oppressive in summer.

Congratulations on your new home, I wish you every happiness in it. Please keep us stickybeaks informed of the changes you make.

I just realised where the slots are from the kitchen side, I didn't pick them up before - they are quite useless aren't they. I don't know if I would rush to remove the door, sometimes it is handy to be able to close rooms off, especially if you are trying to heat or cool areas. I think I would be inclined to fill in the slot beside the door and create wallspace there for a larger cooker, even a wall oven if you are looking at significantly changing the kitchen. The other slot near the clock could be redone to bring it down within the spashback, it doesn't need to be high but you could then make it wider and more useful. You could also add doors to it if you wanted to but they would need to open 180 deg or they will be a nuisance. Just based on how I use mine, it is a more useful location with respect to the dining room too.

This is where collecting ideas and living in the house a while helps to ensure the final decision is the most practical and useful for your needs.