Goya Dmytryshchak
Some outdoor trading areas will be extended to May 31, under the Hobsons Bay Business Has Heart Outdoors program established in response to COVID-19.
Hobsons Bay council last week voted to extend the street trading, which had been due to end on March 31.
Since October, the council has implemented 43 extended trading areas, including footpath zones, parklets and one road closure (Pier Street, Altona).
The council also voted to remove inappropriately sited or underutilised outdoor settings.
Establishing outdoor dining infrastructure cost $1.6 million, which was mainly funded by a state government grant.
The cost of council servicing communal areas costs a further $45,000 a month.
Last week’s council meeting heard that in future some extended trading areas could become permanent under different funding models.
Deputy mayor Daria Kellander told the meeting that outdoor trading “absolutely needs to continue”.
“Traders have been operating under various degrees of restrictions for the past year already,” she said.
“The state government ordered a snap lockdown over Valentine’s Day weekend over a handful of cases.
“That was a key trading weekend for many traders and it caused not only financial loss but a lot of anxiety and heartache.
“A nine month extension has since been granted for the state of emergency provisions so the next lockdown could be just around the corner.
“It’s all testament to how volatile and uncertain the current times are.
“Within the community and within the trader group, there’s sadness, there’s anger, there’s frustration, but there’s also hope, strength and an eagerness to keep on trying.
Cr Kellander said the extension helped not just traders but workers.
“Behind every family-owned business, there are also employees,” she said.
“With JobKeeper coming to an end in the next few weeks, economic predictions are that we’ll be losing anywhere up to 250,000 jobs within Victoria.
“A trader recently confided in me that if this extension isn’t granted, that they’re going to let go of 20 per cent of their staff, and that’s not something that I want to happen.”
The council surveyed the community, businesses and visitors to assess the level of support for extending outdoor trading.
Of 1111 responses, 1071 (96.4 per cent) were supportive.
