Warrnambool cafe to expand foreshore outdoor eating area

Owner Vanessa Thornton said she had been working with Warrnambool City Council and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning to come up with a design to tidy up and beautify the area of Crown land next to the cafe.

Ms Thornton said the original plans had to be adapted because they were hoping to use the two big trees for shelter, but they found out one of them was dying.

"After consulting an arborist they decided that we had to amend our plans, remove the trees and we are obviously replanting," she said.

In consultation with DELWP, the trees were removed and new ones will be planted but being able to source mature trees wasn't easy.

"We've come up with a plan that everyone is happy with, and hopefully in a couple of weeks it will be done in time for summer," Ms Thornton said.

Two permanent umbrellas will be installed to help shelter patrons from the Warrnambool winter and summer sun. And the pop-up shipping container that was put in last summer will become a more permanent feature, while a timber pontoon will also be built.

Government-imposed pandemic rules have put the focus on outdoor dining, with indoor dining restricted throughout the lockdowns.

"COVID's been a struggle," she said.

"The toughest part was in the midst of winter, you couldn't have people inside.

"Your business model keeps changing, every time there was another lockdown there were new restrictions."

Ms Thornton said they had put the servery window in the cafe almost two years ago not knowing COVID was about to hit.

"To be honest we couldn't utilise the space because of the dust that comes through from this area, we didn't have much choice when COVID hit us," she said.

"It was a blessing to have that window to offer takeaway because we couldn't offer sit down service."

CORONAVIRUS STORIES:

We have removed our paywall from our stories about the coronavirus. This is a rapidly changing situation and we aim to make sure our readers are as informed as possible. If you would like to support our journalists you can subscribe here.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:

Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.