Café owner to fight “double standard” coffee cart fine
A Sydney café owner will fight North Sydney Council over a $110 infringement notice.
The council fined Kirribilli cafe owner Tony Morgan for operating a coffee cart in his outdoor dining area.
“I had three rangers come to the cafe on a Sunday morning in our peak hour trade and started taking photos and then said we have to move the coffee cart because it was producing food in an outdoor area,” Morgan said.
“Three days later they came back and fined me. I’ve never had a single complaint about the cart. All the locals love it and it’s good for the atmosphere of the area and for takeaway for coffee.
“There are other things the council should prioritise rather than coming after small businesses. A coffee cart is the last thing people worry about.”
Morgan is contesting the fine, which was for breaching the council’s outdoor dining policy by operating the coffee serving station without formal approval.
The Morgan’s café owner is questioning the timing of the fine, given he has operated the cart for the last five years and was popular during COVID-19 restrictions.
A North Sydney Council spokeswoman said Morgan had been formally warned several times about the breach before the fine was handed out.
“In relation to the use of coffee carts in public spaces, these are not currently permitted within council policy,” the spokeswoman said.
“The council’s practice in relation to compliance activities is always to provide warnings and instructions in relation to breaches of outdoor dining prior to issuing fines, as has been the case here.”
Morgan, who also runs Kirribilli’s San Antonio Sourdough bakery, is standing on principle in not paying the fine citing the council’s double standard.
“Other councils in Sydney are waiving their outdoor dining fees until 2025 to help businesses get back on their feet while in North Sydney we got just seven months.
“I pay $5700 each financial quarter for the outdoor dining area and instead of supporting small businesses, they fine us – that’s the help we get from council.”
Morgan may have unlikely support from local politicians who are pushing for a review of current outdoor dining policies.
Politicians are in favour of small coffee carts in council controlled outdoor dining spaces.
He has also received support from North Sydney councillor Jilly Gibson.
“I don’t think the coffee cart has offended anyone, it just takes up his own outdoor dining space which he pays for,” she said.
“With real estate being so expensive in North Sydney our restaurants are working in very limited spaces inside and having a big coffee machine inside can be prohibitive.
“All our small businesses have done it really tough over the last few years but if we want a sense of community we need to have active villages and the only way to have active villages is to have successful businesses.”
Morgan’s compliance matter has been put on hold while council reviews regulations. However, the fine still stands unless Morgan can have it overturned.
Jonathan Jackson - 8-2-23
