Shire policy to bring back outdoor dining spaces

THE Surf Coast Shire will develop policy that will allow the return of a popular space outside Jan Juc’s Beach Hotel, a decision praised as “moving in the right direction” by the hotel’s owner.

As part of the shire’s COVID-19 response, it created a Fresh Air Dining Program in September 2020 to support hospitality businesses to expand their outdoor dining areas into areas not normally available.

With the end of statewide restrictions in October 2022, the shire worked with those businesses to return to a “business as usual” environment, which led to the removal of the Beach Hotel’s outdoor dining space occupying some of the car parking spaces in the Jan Juc Village.

According to a report presented to councillors at their meeting on Tuesday this week, several businesses requested and received advice from the shire to transition their temporary arrangements to permanent, but “it was not possible to support the Beach Hotel in this manner”.

The Beach Hotel’s outdoor structure was especially popular, with the “Bring her back” petition started in February eventually pulling in more than 1,400 signatures and lead petitioner Frankie Kaye saying that it “created a spark within Jan Juc that has been missing for quite some time”.

At their meeting, councillors responded to the petition by resolving to develop a policy and guidelines to extend outdoor dining areas and encourage private investment in creating vibrant public spaces across the shire, including at the Jan Juc Village.

Beach Hotel owner Jamie Collins said he had previously been in discussions with the shire about bringing the space back.

“We’re moving forward, it’s good.

“We’d be looking for a summer permit – possibly three or four months.

“We haven’t even gone through what we’re going to do with the space, we don’t know how many car parks we’re going to get; it’s still pretty early.

“But because so many people signed the petition, at least they’ve listened, which is good.

“There’s still a long way to go, but it’s moving in the right direction for sure.”

The council will consider the draft policy and guidelines, including stakeholder and community input and feedback, before the 2023-2024 summer period to enable business owners to make plans for the peak season.

Speaking at the meeting, Cr Kate Gazzard said the new parklet policy would keep the shire’s outdoor areas thriving.

“There were a lot of bad things about COVID, but some of the community bondng and the outdoor parklet dining areas were a positive that came out of it.”

Cr Rose Hodge said she lived about 400 metres from the Beach Hotel, and the outdoor structure “really rejuvenated” the Jan Juc Village.

“We won’t be the only council doing this, I know there’s many other inner urban and bayside councils that have experienced what we went through and now they’re drafting clear processes for placemaking.

“Sometimes we’ve got to set aside business as usual and really look at new things that can incorporate the community and incorporate places that people like to visit.”