Could Our Esperance Cafe's and Restaurants Be Getting EXTRA Al Fresco, Street Dining?

Al fresco, street dining could be coming to the Esperance CBD, depending on whether the Shire Council pass a six-month trial at the Ordinary Council Meeting this week.

The Shire would offer restaurant or café businesses the opportunity to have an ‘urban node’ located outside their premise adjacent to the footpath. The wooden decking would provide an area for tables, chairs, umbrellas and garden boxes to enhance the outdoor dining experience and encourage some atmosphere along Dempster and Andrew Street.

The catch? The urban nodes would be situated where current diagonal parking spaces are. The CBD could lose between two to three parking bays per urban node, depending on how big the business would like their dining experience to be.

Cafés and restaurants, from the Loose Goose to Break Away to the French café and everywhere in between, would opt into the trial and have the al fresco set-up established for the six-months before they consulted with Shire members to discuss the pros and cons of the venture.

So, that could mean up to 30 parking bays lost to the CBD. On the other hand, it could create excellent outdoor, ambience and liven our main Esperance walkways.

The nodes would cost the business about $150 to construct and the upkeep of the area would be the responsibility of the owners and staff.

Whether the trial goes ahead depends on the eligible restaurants and cafes and the decision made by the Shire Councillors at the Ordinary Council Meeting tomorrow (Tuesday October 29).

Sean explains it at about 9 minutes into this audio from the Breakfast Show