That was the message from councillors this week, as they debated a $400,000 two-year tender for the cleaning job.

Councillors were told companies had quoted to clean the area around Eat Street Markets each Thursday night and the rest of the mall each Sunday.

A number of councillors thought this was “more than reasonable”, with Labor’s David Brown noting it allowed the mall to be cleaned about 110 times each year at a cost of about $1700 a clean.

Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said the mall was “one of the most well used spaces in this entire city” and believed these costs were necessary to maintain the mall.

“I have expressed concerns about that food market on a Thursday night that turns our mall into a grease trap,” he said.

“Also, last Sunday morning when we had a climate change rally in the mall, people came up to me and complained … that there was food, stains and in some cases vomit. That’s the sort of level of usage that needs to be dealt with.”

Janice Kershaw spoke against the cleaning costs, saying the council had spent enough on the city centre. She also said the market fees may need to be upped.

“I think we’ve spent an absolute fortune in the city, much to the detriment to our suburbs,” Cr Kershaw said.

“It’s complete over servicing when we’re cutting back everywhere else. If markets cause so much damage, maybe we need to look at increasing their fees.”

Michelle Blicavs said she thought the mall needed to be cleaned “more than twice a week” but also said market organisers may need to be charged for cleaning costs.

Chris Connor said citizens would be disappointed if the mall was not cleaned.

“How much do we spend on cleaning our rock pools… or our swimming pools? Our community expects that and I’m sure they’re expecting to have this mall cleaned.”

Councillors eventually voted to delay the tender until December 14, after a confidential councillor briefing.