Watervue restaurant ordered to remove outdoor furniture after row with council

A restaurant has been told to remove its outdoor tables and chairs from The Corso after a row with the council.

The restaurant has had to remove all of its chairs after a dispute with the council over payment of fees owed.

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CORSO mainstay Watervue restaurant has been kicked off the strip by Northern Beaches Council in a spat involving­ unpaid rent.

The restaurant remains open but all outdoor furniture was ordered by the council to be removed­ from The Corso.

It comes after the restaurant’s approval to have outdoor eating expired in September.

The restaurant was then set to have this replaced by a smaller eating area under a six-month trial basis with strict conditions, one of the council’s deputy general managers, Ben Taylor, said.

The conditions included “updating furniture, clean umbrellas and correct formula for table / chair ratio”, he said. It also “required the owners to pay council any outstanding fees”.

“Watervue has chosen not to accept this proposal and have not responded to any correspondence from council in a number of months,” Mr Taylor said.

It is not clear how much money in unpaid rent was owed to the council.

The restaurant has had to remove all of its chairs after a dispute with the council over payment of fees owed

But Mr Taylor said it was “significant and would be better invested in infrastructure and services for the community”.

He indicated the council had previously agreed to payment plans for businesses experiencing financial difficulties­, including Watervue. But “in this instance Watervue has chosen to ignore­ all correspondence with council in regards to payment plan options”, he said.

Watervue did not respond­ to a request for interview. The Manly Daily again attempted to attend the venue for comment yesterday but it was closed.

It is believed rent for the business more than doubled recently. It follows plans for a controversial kiosk to be opened by league stars Glen and Brett Stewart.

Under the plan former Manly Council general manager Henry Wong confirmed the takeaway stall would be charged council’s outdoor dining fees for its rent.