Outdoor dining causes division

The clean and popular pop up outdoor dining at the Great Australian Bakehouse and Cafe. Pic: GABRIELLA PAYNE 230421_01

By Gabriella Payne

Pop-up dining spaces sprang up throughout the city last year as Covid safe practices forced restaurants and cafes to turn to the streets for space, and after a successful summer run, the initiative is set to be extended over the coming months – a decision that has divided the community.

The pop-up outdoor dining program was originally developed as a way for businesses to adapt to the ever-changing Covid environment and saw temporary platforms and seating areas quite literally “pop up” around Cardinia, with seating taking over car parking spaces in many areas, including in Pakenham’s Main Street.

It now appears that this temporary seating won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, as the Cardinia Shire Council are now calling for expressions of interest for businesses to apply for new, free “parklets” – hoping to see more outdoor seating areas spring up across Cardinia.

The Cardinia Shire Mayor, Brett Owen said that after a successful summer trial of the parklets, the council were excited to see more outdoor dining areas installed throughout the area.

“We trialled the parklet concept over summer in Pakenham and we’re now on the lookout for new restaurants, cafes and bars across the shire that would love to host a parklet from March onwards,” Mayor Owen said.

Councillor Tammy Radford also spoke highly of the concept, stating that the al fresco dining spaces had proved popular over summer and helped to support businesses after a difficult year.

“Outdoor dining certainly brought a buzz to the streets of the shire following a tough year.

It’s great to see the community embrace Cardinia venues and show them some much needed love,” she said.

Lyn McLatchie, the owner of the Great Australian Bakehouse and Cafe on Pakenham’s Main Street said that the outdoor dining space had so far been very popular at her business and that it created a “great atmosphere”.

“Just yesterday it was almost full, it’s been great for us and great for the Main Street, I just love it,” Ms McLatchie said.

Ms McLatchie said that she was excited to have the chance to “really dress it up and make it better” now that the council were extending the initiative, stating that it just “needs a few tweaks”.

Whilst many people like Ms McLatchie’s customers are enjoying making use of the new al fresco spaces, longtime Pakenham local and active community member Jack Mitchell said that the lack of cleanliness and maintenance of the Main Street spaces was “an absolute disgrace” and needed to be addressed by the council.

“I travel all over the state and I have never seen a main street in as bad a shape as Main Street, Pakenham,” Mr Mitchell said.

“It’s just dreadful, there are cigarette butts everywhere, there’s bird poo all over the place and the street pavements are falling apart.

Why anybody would want to go to the Main Street now is beyond me,” Mr Mitchell said.

Mr Mitchell has lived in the area since 2004 and said he has raised this issue with the Cardinia Shire Council many times, but to no avail.

“They told me that they’ve got big plans, but it’s just getting worse,” he said.

“Taking away the parking out the front of the shops for some outdoor seating is just unbelievable – most of the seats can’t even be used.”

Mr Mitchell said that the council should be sending “someone down there to clean it up” as the council are “accountable” for ensuring the spaces are worthwhile and usable if they are going to be taking up car parking spots.

The owner and operator of Pakenham Kebabs, Sam Bayraktar told the Gazette that he and other business owners on Main Street felt that the outdoor seating areas had been “a disaster for us”.

“It’s a total mess,” Mr Bayraktar said.

“We can’t even use the seating, it’s so pointless.

First of all we lost our car parks in front of the shops – but it’s mainly the dirtiness that’s the problem,” he said.

“We have this big, low-hanging tree outside and all these parrots keep coming along and making a mess.

Yesterday the council came because we complained to them and they said ‘yes, it’s very dirty’, but they told us that we should clean it up.”

Mr Bayraktar said that the area had recently become “a dumping ground” for people to leave rubbish and unwanted junk as well, and that he didn’t have the resources or the time to be cleaning up the “ridiculous” mess outside.

“It’s become more of a dumping ground and an eyesore than something nice,” he said.

Ms McLatchie said that while she understood some business owners were frustrated by the lack of parking spaces and mess created by the birds, she believes that this new style of dining is “the way to go” and just needed to be “tweaked” a bit more.

“I can understand businesses that are upset, because a lot of people used to pull up and run into the shops quickly, but for my business it’s been wonderful,” she said.

“We do have trouble with the bird poo, and the orange bollards are a bit of an eyesore, but what can you do?”

Ms McLatchie said that she had taken it into her own hands to ensure the cafe’s outdoor space remained clean, going out every second night to hose off bird poo and clean up any rubbish.

“I know this area was put up very fast, and in the long term I think we need to look at what works for us and the birds – we need to work together,” she said.