‘We don’t want any red tape’: The plan to make Sydney’s street dining tables permanent

Sydney’s on-street tables would become a permanent fixture of metropolitan streets under a $20 million plan to lock in al fresco dining and ease tensions between venues and the city council.

Five years after the City of Sydney allowed the outdoor dining areas to take over parking spaces during the pandemic, the council wants to replace the concrete barriers with footpath extensions.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the council was “flipping the script to supercharge outdoor dining”.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

Draft changes to outdoor dining guidelines also reverse a ban on live entertainment and scrap outdated rules that require patrons to sit or stand at tables when eating or drinking outside.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the council wanted to make it easier for businesses to establish eating areas on city streets and footpaths, and it was “flipping the script to supercharge outdoor dining”.

“Rather than telling businesses what they can do and where, we’re saying as long as you keep a clear path people can get through, and your neighbours are happy, we don’t want any red tape holding you back,” Moore said.

She said the plans would “ensure the outdoor dining revolution is a part of Sydney’s streetscape forever”.

Moore’s council has increasingly clashed with owners of cafes and restaurants over use of footpaths and roads for outdoor dining areas.

The council permanently waived all footpath and on-road outdoor dining fees this year.

The draft changes, published on Wednesday, include five-year outdoor dining approvals, simpler application processes, and relaxed rules for installing planter boxes and large pots on footpaths.

The state government lifted a COVID-era ban on drinking-while-standing last year, prompting Premier Chris Minns to urge the City of Sydney to “take a breath and let people have a bit of fun”.

The Friend in Hand Hotel in Glebe is one of hundreds of licensed premises permitted to have an outdoor dining area.Credit: Kate Geraghty

If endorsed by councillors this month, the updated guidelines will go on exhibition in January.

Moore said the outdoor dining areas bordered by “safe but reasonably ugly concrete barriers” had been popular with small venues and patrons, but the council wanted to turn them into “beautiful, permanent spaces that will change not just the face of our city but how we experience it”.

She said a creating a clear, reliable path would protect access for people with disabilities, limited mobility or prams. The council set aside $20 million to roll out the footpath extensions long term.

A council report said 48 of the approved 175 on-street dining areas had already been, or were planned to be, made permanent. These included spots in the CBD, Surry Hills and Darlinghurst.

The owner of Stanley Street eatery Mrs Palmer Sandwich, Alfredo Perez, said: “The best part is giving diners the choice: enjoy the full restaurant vibe inside, or relax outside in the open air.”

Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou said the proposed changes would boost the 24-hour economy and were a “serious effort to energise the vibrancy of the city”.

“Enabling operators to obtain five-year approvals is a great step forward as is replacing the current concrete ‘bunker’ arrangements with attractive street enhancements.”

Since 2020, the City of Sydney has approved nearly 1000 applications from about 860 businesses to create an estimated 13,000 square metres of outdoor dining space.

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