Kiama Council will not opt in to the NSW Outdoor Dining Policy, which would have seen footpath dining fees waived across the municipality, and left council $61,000 out of pocket.
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Councillors made the decision to reject the opportunity at a meeting on Tuesday night.
In September 2017 seven councils participated in an outdoor dining trial facilitated by the NSW Small Business Commissioner, which was designed to reduce application processing times, abolish fees and promote outdoor dining throughout the state.
The councils included Canterbury-Bankstown, Parramatta, Liverpool Plains, Maitland, Queanbeyan, Port Stephens and Snowy Valley.
The trial provided outdoor dining operators a fee-free arrangement for the use of footpaths.
Council has permitted the use of designated footpaths in commercial areas since 2004 and manages 34 footpath dining permits.
If council had decided to opt-in to the policy, it would have left a $61,000 hole in council’s revenue each year.
Deputy mayor Andrew Sloan said the uptake was evidence the system had been working well.
“Over the last four or five years we’ve seen a great activation of the streets in Kiama, almost every business has taken up footpath dining,” he said.
“It’s really added to the atmosphere.”
Council currently charges businesses a $280 footpath dining application fee, plus $2.70 per chair per week, and $1.95 per chair per week for outlying areas.
The highest individual annual fee for a footpath dining operator is $4773 with an average of $1794 across the municipality.
“It’s a very low rate we charge compared to the rents people pay for inside their shops, and we do need to cover those costs associated with administering those spaces,” Cr Sloan said.
“Because it is council owned community land, the community would expect we wouldn’t be just giving away free access to community space for commercial enterprises.”
During the meeting, Councillor Neil Reilly suggested the footpath dining fees could be waived or reduced for businesses that open of an evening.
“It occurred to me during the debate that the outdoor dining is definitely a stimulus to get people out and enjoying alfresco dining,” he said.
“In Kiama after 5 o’clock it gets very, very quiet, there’s no people around and there’s no shops open.
“I thought it would be wonderful to have a more vibrant streetscape and if we could offer some sort of incentive to those restaurants that would open beyond normal business hours in the evening, it would boost the nighttime economy and it would make the street a little bit more friendly, populace and safer.
“I would like to speak with the business owners themselves and see how they feel about that.”
On December 31, the NSW Small Business Commissioner will release the NSW Outdoor Dining Policy, to which councils can elect to opt-in.
