Take a seat: Push to use car parks for outdoor dining

THE City of Greater Geelong council is seeking outdoor dining ideas now coronavirus restrictions have been eased, and one Ocean Grove café owner says tables in car parks could be the way forward.
Under the Third Step of the coronavirus roadmap for regional Victoria, hospitality venues can have up to 50 patrons outdoors and up to 20 patrons indoors, with time limits and social distancing in effect.
The city has waived all outdoor dining fees and is encouraging cafes, restaurants and bars to submit proposals to either begin or expand their outdoor dining.
“The council is keen to see businesses develop shared ideas that will assist their wider shopping strips and precincts,” Geelong mayor Stephanie Asher said last week.
“The city’s economic development team is ready and willing to come up with the best solutions for traders and to fast-track to consideration of applications.”
Ty Simons from Ocean Grove’s The Driftwood Café said his business, located in The Terrace, would normally hold 115 people but could only take 12 under existing spacing regulations and outdoor-only seating.
“This is a similar story with many other venues.
“Operating at 10 per cent capacity is simply not sustainable. If we were able to bring that up to 40-50 per cent, with additional outdoor spaces, then our businesses would survive.”
He said the city should consider allowing some of the 51 car parks on the main strip of The Terrace to be used.
“We are estimating that there could be 15 or 16 set aside for outdoor seating – only a third of existing bays. These would be predominantly down the ‘food end’ at the beginning of The Terrace.
“There are 341 bays in the three surrounding car parks, additional underground parking at the old Target site and dozens more on street parks around The Terrace. With a bit of education, we all could encourage staff to park further away to free up some surrounding streets too.”
The city is encouraging hospitality businesses to seek grants of up to $5,000 from the state government’s Outdoor Eating and Entertainment Package, to assist with purchasing practical items such as umbrellas and furniture to assist with outdoor dining, and will apply for $500,000 from the same package to help waive permit fees and provide upgraded public infrastructure.
Mr Simons – who has already proposed his idea to the city – said it was important to encourage people into town to eat, to shop and to enjoy.
“I know that the City of Greater Geelong will have had some objections to the thought of closing off car spaces for restaurant tables. The hope is that we can all look at this and come up with a solution that works for all.”
For more information about the Third Step, head to vic.gov.au/coronavirus-covid-19-reopening-roadmap-regional-victoria.