Newcastle hospitality businesses looking to keep furniture outdoors permanently may be charged a $7000 fee as part of a new policy for alfresco dining.
Newcastle council voted on September 26 to exhibit a new draft outdoor trading policy. The policy would replace a 2020 version by which applications for outdoor dining and trading in the city are assessed.
A proposed change would introduce rules around furniture used for outdoor dining, including barriers, planter boxes, shade structures picnic tables and anchoring systems. The current policy does not have a mechanism for dining furniture to be left outdoors overnight.
Furniture would need to be removed from the public area at the end of each day and stored inside the business. Objects left outside the venue after closure of the outdoor dining area would be regarded as permanent and require a separate approval and a proposed annual fee of $7000.
"This fee will also include CN's costs for the assessment, inspections and administration costs of the application, as well as defray the nil cost charged to businesses that remove their furniture from the footway at the close of trading," the council report said.
The council said the proposed rule was in line with the NSW Outdoor Dining Policy and User Guide 2019 and policies from 13 other local government areas, which all require furniture to be removed daily with no permanent fixtures allowed.
"The exception is Byron Bay council which allows picnic tables near general stores outside the CBD, but furniture in other areas of the LGA is to be removed after trading hours," the council report said.
Greens councillor Charlotte McCabe said she supported a fee "as our footpaths are public spaces and this would be a permanent infrastructure that is privately owned", but Independent councillor John Church and Liberal councillor Callum Pull opposed it. Cr Church said the change came at a time when many well-known restaurants were shutting their doors, while Cr Pull said people were struggling with rising interest rates and inflation meaning they were not dining out as much.
"It begs the question, which is perhaps for another day, why $7000? Why is that so expensive for this council to administer something which is bureaucratic?" Cr Church said. "Taking your furniture in and out every night is a cost in itself as well for these small businesses."
Cr Pull said a benefit of permanent furniture was it could provide a place for people to rest after a business has closed and suggested a "small one-off" fee instead.
Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes reiterated that the council was putting the proposed policy out to consultation for feedback. She said the council absorbed the costs of applications for outdoor dining "as a service to our community".
"There is some outdoor furniture but it's a bit of a grey area around insurance responsibilities if anything happens on the street," Cr Nelmes said. "There is also complaints from particular disability advocacy groups where some furniture is in the way of access."
Deputy lord mayor Declan Clausen said he didn't "think that we should be making exception for a very small number of businesses that choose to leave their furniture outdoors overnight".
