City of Parramatta Lord Mayor Cr Bob Dwyer has raised concerns the NSW Government is keeping Eat Street businesses in the dark about the future of outdoor dining as it delivers Parramatta Light Rail.
"Council staff recently visited Eat Street businesses and 84 per cent said Transport for NSW hadn't informed them of their proposed design for outdoor dining and umbrella structures," Cr Dwyer said.
"TfNSW is putting the livelihoods of these business owners at risk by not being upfront about their proposed plans to cut the iconic street's outdoor dining capacity by 70 per cent. If the current plans are delivered, 10 businesses will lose on-street dining all together.
"For 12 months, we've worked tirelessly with TfNSW in good faith to try to achieve the best outcome for Eat Street businesses, including putting forward our recommendations about the number of trees and shelter structures."
Cr Dwyer said he has always advocated on behalf of the community and his priority is to make sure Eat Street can return to its former glory as one of Sydney's premier dining districts.
"When the Parramatta Light Rail project began, TfNSW repeatedly assured us they'd learnt their lessons from light rail construction in Sydney's CBD and that it would not significantly impact our local businesses. Disappointingly, this has not been the case," Cr Dwyer said.
"Even though Parramatta Light Rail is a TfNSW project, Council has been doing the heavy lifting when it comes to liaising with, and advocating for, Eat Street businesses about on-street dining.
"The loss of outdoor dining capacity will do irreparable damage to these businesses, many of whom have already endured significant disruption as a result of Parramatta Light Rail construction and the COVID-19 pandemic.
"While Parramatta Light Rail will transform our City for generations to come, helping to make Parramatta more accessible and easier to navigate, it shouldn't come at the cost of our local businesses."
On 28 March 2018, Council and TfNSW signed a Parramatta Light Rail Development Agreement which committed TfNSW, as the project owner, to liaise with businesses and make reasonable efforts to retain as much on-street dining space as possible.
Council believes TfNSW has failed to meet these obligations and has issued a Default Notice following unanimous endorsement at a Council Meeting on Monday 8 March.
"Council has offered to work with TfNSW to liaise with businesses and look at ways to reduce the impact of Parramatta Light Rail on on-street dining," Cr Dwyer said.
"We are pleased to say we have had fruitful conversations with TfNSW in the last few days about how we can work together. We look forward to the development of a comprehensive package of proposals that businesses can get behind."
