Work on expanding outdoor dining in Monash, in line with the State Government's proposed roadmap for reopening, is well underway with the first temporary permits to be issued this week.
Whilst confirmation of when restrictions will ease and businesses will reopen is still to be announced, we are working with traders to have hospitality businesses ready-to-go once it's permitted. On Wednesday and Thursday (14 and 15 October) Council will begin installing the first of the expanded areas to be used for outdoor dining at Pinewood Shopping Village in Mount Waverley.
The plans for our new temporary outdoor dining areas at Pinewood can be viewed at our website.
Monash Council CEO Dr Andi Diamond said after the State Government's Outdoor Eating and Entertainment Package was announced on 14 September, Council began working with traders to ensure the timeframe for reopening these businesses and precincts could be achieved once restrictions eased. The package outlines requirements that allow a maximum number of outdoor dining and limited indoor dining, to limit the spread of COVID-19.
"We sought Expressions of Interest from traders keen to increase their footpath dining and from those who may not have explored outdoor dining before but wanted to do so as indoor dining would be reduced," Dr Diamond said.
"More than 80 businesses have responded so far with their ideas for outdoor dining and feedback on what they would like to see introduced in Monash to reopen our much loved cafes and restaurants."
A high priority for Council and traders was ensuring any enhanced dining on footpaths and roads met stringent safety standards. A traffic safety audit has been undertaken by Council and the spaces designated for temporary permits adhere to the recommendations in the audit report.
Council teams have also worked with traders on meeting the requirements of the hospitality and hygiene guidelines released by the State Government.
"The Enhanced Dining Precinct project has a number of phases. The first phase is to create safe dining spaces that meet the requirements of the hospitality guidelines and safety requirements. We want every business that wants to trade able to do so as soon as they are allowed to. This has been our main focus," Dr Diamond said.
"The second phase of the project will focus on beautification. No doubt traders will look to make improvements to these area to make them more welcoming, and Council is also considering options and is listening to ideas from traders to make these dining areas more attractive."
The temporary extended outdoor dining permits approved by Council will allow eligible hospitality venues to:
- expand onto footpaths
- use some on-street car parking space immediately outside their business for outdoor dining, where appropriate
- join with neighbouring businesses to use sections of footpaths and (in some cases) street space for dining.
We want to make it as easy as possible for local businesses to safely welcome everyone back to the renowned cafes and restaurants we have in our municipality and to declare Monash once again Open for Business.
