A Greek-Australian restaurant owner who spent close to $80,000 on his outdoor dining facilities on-street council parking areas is one of a number of business owners who have been angered by the City of Monash decision not to extend the permits beyond 30 June.

George Spiropoulos who runs a restaurant in Oakleigh, Greca Street Greek Food and Wine, in partnership with Michael Horomidis, said the council had ignored not only the wishes of the affected businesses. He said 26 traders in Monash were utilising outdoor space from the council which had offered the spaces and water protection and barrier protection in the form of plastic bollards for seated customers to keep safe from traffic.

“I spent $80,000 to put out concrete barriers to offer better protection for out patrons from cars, I set up a timber pergola beam and raised a wooden platform bringing it to the footpath level and reduce the risk of tripping and I added plants and other decorations to make it aesthetically pleasing,” Mr Spiropoulos told Neos Kosmos.

When the COVID pandemic hit in 2020, the Victorian government offered local government funding to promote outdoor dining as a way of allowing social interaction while reducing the risk of contracting the virus.

Greca Street opened its doors in November last year and took advantage of the scheme with the council approving the structures it created for its outdoor diners. The restaurant has 150 seats for patrons indoors and 40 outdoors.

“About 30 percent of the people who book prefer to sit outside or near open windows because they are still concerned about COVID,” Mr Spiropoulos said adding that this was something the council was ignoring.

He said the Glen Waverley Traders Association had written to the Council asking for it to reconsider the decision it had reached following its 29 March meeting. He added that the council had not consulted with businesses but had presented them with the decision two days after the meeting.

The Mayor of the City of Monash Stuart James said businesses had been made aware of the council’s stance long before the council meeting.

“Council waived all footpath trading fees for the last two financial years and waived 10% of rates in 20/21 to support traders. Council extended permits to allow outdoor dining in on-street parking areas in September 2021 as further COVID restrictions were in place, free of charge until June 2022, but also advised traders in writing last year that the permits would not be further extended beyond 30 June,” the mayor said in response to questions from Neos Kosmos.

“There remains an option for traders to apply through Council’s footpath trading policy for outdoor dining opportunities and all applications will be considered on their merits,” Cr James added.

He went on to say the council was following State Government directives regarding the removal of COVID restrictions.

“The density limitations on restaurants and café’s that were the catalyst for these opportunities no longer exist.

Many of the outdoor dining precincts are only used at limited times during busy periods, such as Friday and Saturday nights, and remain vacant and unused for extended periods through the week, something that has been relayed to us by businesses in our Activity centres.”

“Council must balance the use of these precincts against the need for car parking spaces to be available again and there are many traders who do not have food businesses that are crying out for parking to be returned,” Cr James said.

Mr Spiropoulos said that the council should recognise that other councils in Melbourne had seen the value of outdoor dining on on-street sites, reviewed their policies and had devised fee structures for businesses that wanted to continue using on-street parking spaces for their outdoor dining.

“The crux of the issue is not that traders are looking for a free ride or reduced fees, but they want to be treated fairly in the same way as the other councils who consulted with the traders and trader groups.”

He said a fee structure for businesses seeking on-street parking would be a good revenue source for the council.