Outdoor Dining

The world has changed since COVID-19. There were very few good things that came out of this global pandemic and a bigger focus on alfresco dining is one of them – so people could eat and drink with friends in a COVID-19 Safe way.

The alfresco dining scene is something Oakleigh is renowned for. Places such as Eaton Mall have embraced outdoor dining to great success with parklets, marquees and pop-up bars, making Oakleigh one of the premier outdoor dining areas in Melbourne.

The State Government wanted to support the operation of outdoor dining with our $54.5 Outdoor Economy Package. This program provided funding to councils and grants to business to support outdoor dining.

This included funding $1.5 million to Monash Council to help unlock new space for outdoor dining. As a result, traders like Vanilla and Greca Street have invested significant amounts of money to create a unique outdoor dining experience.

However, Monash have told local businesses that these spaces will need to be shut down by June 30 – despite some traders offering to pay an annual fee to keep their space.

There was not enough consultation by Monash Council with local hospitality businesses – the first the traders heard was when they received a letter telling them they would need to pack up their spaces.

This is bad for these traders and it disregards how hard the last few years have been for them – and how tough things still are. And it’s a bad move for our activity centres.

I have been fighting alongside our traders by advocating to Monash Council to pressure them to reconsider shutting these spaces down.

Timeline

22 April 2022

18 December 2021

19 September 2021

28 November 2020

14 September 2020

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