‘Net benefit for everyone’: City of Sydney waives all outdoor dining permits until June

‘Net benefit for everyone’: City of Sydney waives all outdoor dining permits until June
Image: Outdoor dining permits will be waived until June in the inner city. Photo: City of Sydney.

By SEJA AL ZAIDI

The City of Sydney will continue to waive all outdoor dining permit fees until June 2022, following the success of the free, fast-tracked application process launched in December 2020. 

As well as enlivening the inner-city, the new initiative has allowed venues to conduct business in a more ventilated and COVID-safe manner.

The new process will allow cafes, bars, restaurants and cultural venues that currently don’t trade outdoors to apply for footpath dining permits and to take over car parking spaces for outdoor dining purposes. Venues that already have an existing outdoor dining permit can apply to change their current permit so they can potentially trade for more hours and extend their dining space.

Suburbs like Surry Hills, Darlinghurst, Redfern, Pyrmont and Glebe will continue to be reinvigorated by the alfresco opportunities.

“We’ve seen outdoor dining all across the city take off,” City of Sydney councillor Lyndon Gannon said.

“Businesses have taken [the opportunities] up in droves. It’s a really important measure that’s assisting businesses to bounce back better.

“It’s a net benefit for everyone. It’s bringing people back into the city and the surrounding suburbs and villages; I’d love to see the adoption of it long term.” 

Business owners and venue operators were quick to show appreciation for the initiative.

“It’s helped build customer confidence,” says Rebecca O’Shea, Managing Director of Arms’ Length Hospitality and co-owner of Bar Nina in Darlinghurst. “It allows us to get customers that maybe did feel uneasy about going out in this climate.”

“I think it just gives us benefits all round. We should be utilising the great weather that we have here in Sydney,” O’Shea added.

European flair

In addition to the waiving of outdoor dining permits, inner-city venues will also be enabled to expand their trading hours, subject to location. Late-night management precincts will be allowed to trade until 1 am, with city living precincts allowed to trade until 11 pm. 

“If you look down Crown Street, a lot of businesses have been able to utilise additional outdoor dining space, and it does create a really vibrant atmosphere on the street,” said Lachie Thompson, venue manager at The Winery in Surry Hills, a restaurant that had an existing alfresco dining space prior to the initiative’s launch. 

“I think it sort of adds a European flair to inner Sydney. It merges a business with public space, which creates a really nice flowing atmosphere.”

Currently, more than 200 permits have been granted across inner Sydney.

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