Port Phillip traders fighting back after crippling COVID-19 restrictions
Businesses in Port Phillip are throwing open their doors and flash all-weather outdoor dining pods as COVID-19 restrictions ease but many haven’t survived the 111-day lockdown with one street alone having 23 shop vacancies.
Inner South
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As businesses start to reopen across Melbourne, empty shops along once a once bustling Port Melbourne strip highlight the harsh reality of the COVID-19 pandemic.
All have done it hard. Many haven’t survived.
When the Leader visited Bay St this week there were about 23 vacant shops, with “For Lease” signs dotted throughout the strip.
About 17 retail sites are being advertised for rent on realcommercial.com.au.
It comes after Port Phillip Council last month declared an economic emergency in the municipality and vowed to implement measures to help stem the tide of the fiscal crisis.
Steps to help small businesses in the area include using a portion of the $1.7 million leftover from the cancellation of next year’s St Kilda Festival to aid economic recovery and waiving footpath trading fees and closing off laneways and parking bays to maximise outdoor dining space at hospitality venues.
The council will also advocate for extensions to the Federal Government’s JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments, as well as undertaking regular audits on local economic conditions such as shop vacancy rates.
Popular Raglan St haunt, the Railway Club Hotel, has transformed parking bays into an outdoor dining area in a bid to boost patron numbers under COVID-19 safety restrictions.
Owner Jonathan Woolley said the weatherproof pods had proved to be a drawcard.
“When we reopened our phone bookings, people were requesting to be seated in the pods as they want to try being outdoors,” he said.
“I can seat 42 diners in the pods and eight on the footpath which means I can achieve the outdoor maximum of 50 for my premises.
“This will make a big difference when we play catch-up after being closed for so long. It’s a real gamechanger — we’re a viable business again.”
As of October 26, the council had received 67 extended footpath trading applications and 33 per cent of those had already been approved, with an average turnaround of five days.
The council has so far provided $240,000 in footpath trading rebates to traders for the last quarter of 2019-20 and waived $300,000 in footpath trading fees for July to December this year.
Outdoor dining applications totalling 39, involving laneway and street closures and pop-up parks, and for traders to use public spaces such as the foreshore, parks and reserves, are being considered. Care will be taken to ensure members of the public retain sufficient access to these outdoor spaces.
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