Tauranga alfresco dining fees: Council extends free period

Cafe and restaurant owners in Mount Maunganui's Mainstreet areas will have to pay rental fees for street dining spaces from July 1, 2025. Photo / Sandra Conchie

Tauranga City Council’s decision to extend the free period before alfresco dining fees come into force by six months until July 1 has had a mixed reception from the hospitality sector.

The system of charging a fee per square metre of space used by Tauranga city centre and Mount Maunganui hospitality businesses for street dining was introduced on July 1 this year.

However, the council earlier decided to offer a 100% discount on the fees for the rest of this year, and an 80% discount from January 1 to June 30, 2025, because of the “challenging environment hospitality businesses faced and the vibrancy they provided”.

The 100% discount was in addition to waiving a one-off application fee for the rest of the financial year.

The council said to ensure enough space for pedestrians and other users, businesses wanting to use footpaths for commercial street dining must apply for a Licence to Occupy street permit and pay an annual fee.

Under the old system, charges were individually negotiated with businesses, based on complex factors such as valuations and the status of the street upgrades.

The new charging system was “more equitable and transparent”, the council said.

At the Community, Transparency and Engagement Committee meeting on Tuesday, councillors voted to extend the 100% discount on fees until July 1 next year, according to a media statement sent to the Bay of Plenty Times.

“Hospitality providers are telling us that they’re doing it tough at the moment and a number have been affected by the works council are doing to revitalise the city centre,” Mayor Mahé Drysdale said in the statement.

Black Orchid Collective cafe and tattoo shop owner Veronica de Oliveira says being charged a rental fee for placing three small dining tables on the footpath was "ridiculous" and Tauranga City Council should be giving Mount Mainstreet businesses incentives to stay open. Photo / Sandra Conchie

Veronica de Oliveira, owner of the Black Orchid Collective cafe and tattoo shop on Prince Ave, said being given another six months’ grace before full fees came into force was “even more disrespectful”.

“The council’s decision means we will have to start paying these fees in winter - that’s our quietest time of the year.

“I think it’s like when someone gives a lollipop to a child in a car hoping it will keep them quiet, it’s rude. A little bit of extra grace time won’t make a big difference for hospitality businesses struggling to keep our doors open.”

De Oliveira said with the rising food costs, it was already hard enough to keep the cafe side of her business open, and she believed quite a few alfresco dining places in Mount Maunganui could be lost, making the area quieter.

She said it was not just hospitality business owners who were “stressed out” about the impact of these fees, but also retailers who relied on increased foot traffic from alfresco dining during their quieter months.

The council said businesses and the wider public would be able to have their say on future fees during the next annual plan consultation process early next year.

Polar Dessert Bar owners Steffi and Michael Clark. Photo / Supplied

Mount Maunganui Business Association destination manager Michael Clark earlier said alfresco dining added vibrancy and helped attract visitors to the area, and for those reasons, did not think charging fees for use of these spaces was justified.

Clark, who co-owns the Polar Dessert Bar in Prince Ave, said the council’s decision to delay the Licence to Occupy fees until next year was “a welcome one”.

“It’s also a good sign that the councillors are allowing submissions on this decision during their annual plan process.

“All we ask for is an equitable approach that doesn’t harm the vibrancy of our street and makes the cost to use council space affordable for local businesses. We look forward to engaging with them further.”

Matthew Yardley, owner of Rice Rice Baby restaurant on Maunganui Rd, said he knew of many other business owners who were happy about the extension of time before full fees came into force as they had reached out to him since the council’s decision was made public.

“I hope the consultation [annual plan] is meaningful and that all businesses who use the footpath of commercial gain, be they hospitality, services or retail, are able to contribute to the conversation before a decision is made.

“Ultimately I hope that we can arrive at an outcome that is fair and reasonable for all concerned. "

Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.