Three Perth restaurant bosses claim expanding their outdoor seating areas will help them “survive” during “disruptive” works on City Hall.
Café Tabou, Crido’s and Monterey Jack’s on St John’s Place have all been granted permission by the council to host more diners outside.
The City Hall project got under way in 2021 but led to complaints from nearby business owners in April that customers were being affected by the “noisy and dusty” works.
And earlier this month, tapas restaurant Bistua closed – with owner Ciro Sito directly blaming the City Hall works for putting diners off.
Cristian Cojocaru, owner of Crido’s, told The Courier the expansion of outdoor seating areas – some of which will have covers and heaters for the colder months – could help “revive” business in the city centre.
He said: “The original seating area we had was very small and only had a few chairs so it looked like we were closed. People didn’t really check otherwise.
“We’ve now expanded this area to make it much bigger.
“The City Hall works have been very disruptive. We do understand that when it is complete it will be a good thing, but it has not been so good for business.
“We now feel positive that we will survive the City Hall refurbishment works.
“Our extended seating area is permanent.”
Scott Beaton, regional manager of Monterey Jack’s, said: “The City Hall works have stopped a lot of people coming to our street.
“It’s been worrying for us.
“This seating area will mean we have the opportunity to serve more people and keep business flowing.
“As a business we feel fully supported by the council.”
Wojciech Majkowski, general manager of Café Tabou, says the move could help the business “stay afloat”.
He added: “It’s a very positive step.
“The seating area shows that we are fully open for business.”
A Perth and Kinross Council spokesperson said: “The extended seating areas for these premises are permanent and not just for the duration of the City Hall works.
“The recent permissions were made possible by improvements and increase in the space available as well as revised traffic management arrangements.
“Once the conversion of the City Hall and improvement of the surrounding area are complete this will no doubt also benefit local businesses by bringing in an increased number of people visiting the new cultural area in the city centre.”
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