Sydney Road and Outdoor Dining - Constituency question

'Will the government make some car-parking spaces eligible outside venues on Sydney Road for outdoor dining conversions?'

Dr READ (Brunswick) (12:49): My constituency question is to the Minister for Roads and Road Safety. You have recently announced assistance for local councils to identify road space to enable social distancing and outdoor dining to help hospitality venues to reopen safely, but what you have not yet made clear, which is vital for my constituency, is whether you will do anything similar on the arterial roads that the state government, not the councils, operates. Sydney Road in Brunswick and Coburg is the longest retail shopping strip in the Southern Hemisphere. It is packed with restaurants, cafes and bars. The government’s Department of Transport, not the Moreland council, controls what happens on that road. Without the Victorian government providing some open space, many of these venues will struggle to reopen. So will the government make some car-parking spaces eligible outside venues on Sydney Road for outdoor dining conversions?

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