North Melbourne publican floored by ‘exorbitant’ council fee for outdoor dining

A North Melbourne publican struggling to get his business back on its feet post-lockdowns has been left floored by the “exorbitant” fee Melbourne City Council wants to charge him to use an outdoor dining area.

The Castle Hotel has been using a grassed strip of land which blocks off a no through road for outdoor dining while COVID-19 restrictions were limiting indoor dining capacity.

Pub owner Stephen Kyriacou received a letter from the council saying fees will be implemented for outdoor dining facilities going forward, and council workers attended to survey the area.

“They came back to us and did a measurement and site plan of the area, and came back to us and said the area will be over $25,000 per year,” he told Neil Mitchell.

“We’re allowed up to … 36 patrons in that outdoor space.

‘We’re not allowed to have permanent fixtures outside, so each day we have to set up and pull down, so we employ people to do that also.

“It’s an exorbitant amount of money.”

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