Melbourne City councillors vote to reintroduce outdoor dining fees
Melbourne City councillors insist they have good reasons for reintroducing outdoor dining fees but the Premier has asked them to please explain.
Victoria
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Premier Daniel Andrews has called on Melbourne City Council to explain why it decided to reintroduce outdoor dining fees.
The Premier on Wednesday said we should be doing “everything we can” to support Victorian small businesses.
“Everything that we can do to support a really vibrant restaurant industry, food and wine industry, coffee industry, it’s incredibly important. Many, many thousands of Victorians’ livelihoods depend on that,” Mr Andrews said.
“So it is a matter for the council and you might want to speak to them about why they’ve made that decision.
“Perhaps, in the first instance, they can explain why they’re doing this, why they think this would be good for business, and why they think that doing things — that I don’t think are good for business — would mean more people are employed. It doesn’t make sense but that’s a matter for them and I’ll let them explain it.”
The Premier reiterated that charging Melbourne businesses for the outdoor dining permits was not a government decision.
“That’s not a decision we made, I want to be very clear about that. That’s a matter for the council,” Mr Andrews said.
Councillors voted to discontinue waiving the fees for restaurants and bars unanimously, after restaurant and bar owners had been exempt from paying them to ease with recovering from the pandemic.
A 50 per cent discount will be added until June 30 to ease the transition in paying fees for all permit holders, however the decision is likely to anger businesses who want fees to be waived for longer.
Lord Mayor Sally Capp on Tuesday night said it was the right move given the “strong return” to trading from dozens of restaurants and bars since the pandemic.
“Despite concerns at the start of the program in October 2020, we’ve seen enormous benefits for the city and for those traders in their recovery from the pandemic and we want that to continue,” Ms Capp said.
“The very strong return of foot traffic (and the) stronger trading results I think give us all confidence for many and most of our traders.
“They really are really seeing not just a return to pre-Covid levels but uplifts from that, which is encouraging.
“We are now seeing that sense of optimism about the future.
“It’s time for us to get back to normal on so many aspects of this city.”
However, the fees will not be in place for 107 Docklands traders, as the economic recovery has been significantly slower than the rest of the city, with fees being waived until June 30 2023.
Buskers in the CBD will also be exempt from paying fees until the midpoint of next year as they provide “greater vibrancy” to the city streets.
The city council had previously waived more than $2.36m in application and permit fees for outdoor dining and busking since October 2020, but the turnaround has been “encouraging”.
Application and permit fees had previously been waived on March 29 this year until October 31, recognising the continual struggle many businesses faced with getting back on their feet post pandemic.
The council expects the reintroduction of fees to boost council revenue of up to $716,000 for outdoor and alfresco dining and $22,000 from busking fees.
These figures had already been included in the City of Melbourne’s 2022-23 financial year budget.
Ms Capp said the move was justified given the number of people flocking to city streets recently, as data showed strong signs of economic recovery for many businesses.
“Melbourne is the epicentre of all things AFL, and that was proved beyond a doubt at this year’s Grand Final,” she said.
“Not only did we have record crowds at the MCG, we also had record crowds filling our city streets.
“Southbank foot traffic on Saturday soared to 73 per cent above the levels recorded on 2019’s Grand Final Saturday.
“And the party continued into the evening, with foot traffic in Southbank going 82 per cent above 2019’s Grand Final Saturday night time activity.
Ms Capp said restaurants and bars would have reaped the rewards from the boost in foot traffic over the weekend.
“In the city centre, pedestrian activity was 23 per cent above 2019’s Grand Final day levels, while Chinatown also welcomed hungry footy fans in the evening, with pedestrian activity beating 2019’s Grand Final figures by 18 per cent,” she added.
“We know these huge figures have immense flow-on effects for our traders, who were more than happy to accommodate the crowds.
But Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra slammed the council’s move, saying city traders faced an “iron fist”.
“At a time when many businesses are still recovering, this is not the time to be increasing fees for them,” he said.
This decision comes a week after the state government released another voucher program to stimulate business and support hospitality, which is in direct contrast with the approach of the City of Melbourne to increase fees for business.”
“Our CBD hospitality operators need a velvet glove, but instead they are being met with an iron fist.”
Mr Guerra said outdoor dining had contributed substantially to the vibrancy of CBD streets and the city’s international reputation.
“We should continue to waive fees to support outdoor dining and the recovery of businesses,” he said.
Restaurant and bar owners can also apply for a payment plan if they are experiencing financial hardship.
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