More outdoor dining and drinking areas could be opened up in Wollongong, if the state's minister in charge of liquor regulation has his way.
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Last week, NSW Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello said he was looking at ways to relax rules to allow alcohol to be served outdoors more easily in Sydney, as a way to make the city more cosmopolitan, help the struggling hospitality industry and ease COVID-19 risks as the weather warms.
He said he would be taking to councils and the community about possible streamlining of the regulations, and told the Mercury he saw no reason Wollongong could not also benefit from a relaxation of the rules.
"We envisage this benefiting communities across NSW, not just Sydney and I would welcome Wollongong City Council working with Liquor and Gaming NSW and the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment in this regard," he said.
"If it can be done safely and successfully in other countries, it can be done here."
Wollongong MP Paul Scully said he would be happy to see the relaxed regulation considered in Wollongong, especially as the city faces an influx of daytrippers this summer who are unable to travel interstate or overseas.
"We're facing potentially our biggest summer in a long time and we need to give people a reason to stay here and spend their money," he said.
He said he'd like to see increased outdoor dining and drinking be trialled trial in the mall, along with a combination of pop ups, short term leases and new ventures from existing businesses "who want to extend or go into more of an evening market".
"This is particularly important as the debate is flourishing over how to make our CBD more vibrant because it could help people enjoy more than just our beaches and create a few jobs," he said.
"Even if you had half a dozen extra seats at half a dozen small bars, that is potentially half a dozen more people employed."
At present, there's a three to four step process that bar owners and businesses need to go through if they want to have patrons sitting outside for an alcoholic drink in Wollongong - including within the Crown Street Mall.
Cafes or restaurants need to hold a valid development application, and small bars or a pubs require this plus a separate consent for any outdoor the seating.
They then need an approved Outdoor Dining Licence from the council, and an approval from Liquor & Gaming NSW, which would include consultation with NSW Police.
The council has made a number of moves to try to make this easier, including adopting generic outdoor dining approvals for the Mall, Arts Precinct and Globe Lane and waiving outdoor dining fees for any businesses operating on council-owned or managed land.
It had also repeatedly recognised how important a thriving evening and night-time economy is for the city, and pledged to support a "vibrant culture of nightlife".
However, even with all this, the mall and other CBD streets have failed to live up to the projections and artist's impressions contained within the council's designs and plans for the city centre.
Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said he would cautiously welcome the bid to make it easier for people to navigate these rules, but warned that increasing drinking locations did come with risks, especially in the COVID-19 era.
"We're quite open to it and council will be as flexible as possible, but at the same time we need to not crowd footpaths and public access," he said.
"Alcohol dissolves inhibitions and may make people forget their social distancing, so it has to be done with a sense of balance."
Deputy Mayor Tania Brown said she thought the current social-distancing environment would be perfect to trial more dining and alcohol service in the mall and on footpaths throughout the CBD.
"I would like to see more outdoor dining in the mall, particularly through COVID-19 where restrictions say you have to be seated and you can't be mingling," she said.
"We don't want to get something like Bourbon Street in New Orleans, where people are just roaming around."
Cr Brown, who lives in Wollongong CBD, said any removal of red tape could help more people to enjoy the city's nightlife, especially this summer under COVID restrictions.
"We've seen already how organised you have to be to have a night out at the moment, you have to book well in advance and there's only hour and a half slots once you do book in," she said.
"And for businesses to get a return, they do need a certain volume. So if we could allow a bit more outdoor dining perhaps in places like the lower Crown Street area, and do it safely, then more people would be able to enjoy the city."
"Also, our businesses were so quick to pivot in the lockdown period - we had all that fabulous takeaway food - so we know they can pivot and experiment so this could give them the license to try out some new things."
Likewise, Liberal councillor Leigh Colacino said he would be supportive of relaxed drinking laws, and believed it was an outdated concept that Australians were different to Europeans when it came to drinking.
"I think it's a great idea, and I think people drinking outside doesn't mean there's going to be drunken chaos on the streets," he said.
"I think it's a way to better rejuvenate the CBD, and other areas of our LGA. You should be able to walk by somewhere and have that spontaneity to be able to have a glass of wine."
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Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
