Café owners stung by new Council fees

Martin Sheiban, owner-operator of Badde Manors, an historic café on Glebe Point Road, has endured the inconvenience of recent road-works, and would like to know what the new fee is actually for. “Ninety per cent of the time, the health inspectors say the same thing. It’s very repetitive,” Mr Sheiban explains. “If we’re breaking the law, then fine us,” he says.

Of particular concern is the confrontational nature of health inspections. “We contend with dirt and dust as a result of the road-works, and it would be good to have some support. When the street fair was imminent, suddenly the work in the street was completed. Fifty additional workers were employed. The rest of the time, it’s been so slow. The road has been ripped up four times!”

Owner of Café Ella on Abercrombie Street, Darlington, Peter Borbilas, is fed up with the multitude of Council charges. These include Council rates four times that of a residence, compulsory insurance to cover potential footpath injuries and the privatisation of outdoor seating. The café currently pays a private company a monthly fee of $100 to have tables on the footpath. The latest food administration charges are, for Mr Borbilas, another link in the chain of over-regulated and unjustified Council costs.

“It’s for nothing,” says Borbilas of the new costs. “It is an arbitrary fee that came out of nowhere. If they just jacked up the health inspection fee, I could understand that, but it’s a new fee on top of the inspection costs.”

Up the road at Tripod Cafe, James Rebbeck is also feeling the crunch of the steep increase. “It’s obviously money we do need. $240 is a lot when you are paying lots of other fees.” Although he admitted it would not drastically affect his business, Rebbeck was quick to add that the fee was “making it harder to make any money”.

A spokesperson from the City of Sydney explained that the new charge was part of a NSW government mandate. “Under amendments made by the State Government to the Food Act 2003 (NSW) this year, all NSW local councils can now charge an annual administration fee for inspections of food premises.”

The recommended fee of $240 has been set under the Food Act 2003 and is charged at the time of inspection.

“I would like to see the excuse for it because they would probably make it sound like it was for your own good,” said Mr Borbilas. The Council responded to the criticism, suggesting that, “People dining in Sydney can be assured the City of Sydney takes health inspections and cleanliness seriously and has a comprehensive program to educate, inspect and enforce Food Safety Standards.”

Photo: Andrew Collis - Caption: Martin Sheiban at Badde Manors in Glebe

Source: South Sydney Herald December 2008 www.southsydneyherald.com.au