A creative plan touted by Victoria's Premier as a way to help Melbourne's struggling hospitality businesses boost out of lockdown is met with scepticism, as mounting debt forces some pubs to shut their doors for good.
The City of Melbourne announced last week it would adopt a similar plan to New York City's open restaurants policy that allows hospitality venues to use the footpath and laneways adjacent to their establishment to serve customers and ensure maximum social distancing.
Ms Borsato said because the CBD was laid like a grid, little sunlight hit alleyways during the day, meaning businesses would have to fork out thousands for heaters and covers.Restaurant owner Caterina Borsato says the plan to open on the street is not practical for her."It's noisy and it's not private and the footpaths won't be wide enough for my sort of dining," she said.
"For us and a lot of old pubs that were never really set up for outdoor dining this is not an option. "And let's face it, we're in Victoria, we're not in Queensland where you can bank on seven days of sun, we know what Victoria is like; beautiful one day and disastrous the next minute." He said, according to Melbourne's roadmap, hospitality businesses could open up outside on October 26 if daily case thresholds were met, but 28 days later indoor dining would be allowed to begin.
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