Horsham Rural City Council will waive outdoor dining permit fees to allow hospitality businesses to offer COVID safe outdoor dining options.
Chief Executive Officer Sunil Bhalla said Council’s aim was to make the process as simple and seamless for businesses as possible.
“Being able to dine outside will be key to economic recovery for the municipality’s hospitality businesses, so Council is reaching out to discuss how they can start or expand their outdoor dining offering,” Mr Bhalla said.
“We want to see all our bakeries, cafes, restaurants, pubs and bars in our municipality have the opportunity to welcome as many customers as safely as possible.
“As a first step, our business support is making contact with all hospitality business operators to discuss various options and to hear ideas.
“Even if they have never had outdoor dining before, we want to work quickly to help remove red tape,” he said.