Community well-being and priorities

People along Bass Coast like to get out and socialize over a meal or cup of coffee like the rest of Victoria.  Meeting and talking to other people over a meal or cuppa is important for everyone’s mental health.  However, there are impediments which make this basic activity either unsafe or non-available.

The first impediment is safety.  COVID is still a real threat to community health and many people choose to avoid indoor venues because of the ongoing risk to their health.  The second impediment is opportunity.  Many cafes, restaurants and coffee shops cannot get staff and/or cannot provide open air venues for seating patrons due to local government restrictions.  These problems need to be addressed and solved by Local Government.  If that happens then our community will feel happier and more people will be attracted to our area to work in hospitality.  All they need is affordable short-term hostel-style accommodation so that they can actually afford to live close to potential workplaces.

The impediment to open-air hospitality venues could be solved with the stroke of a pen, subject to a few common-sense guidelines by utilizing footpaths and some parking areas.  The present availability of open-air venues along the Bass Coast is scarce and getting scarcer.  Recently, South Gippsland Shire Council sent a “dawn raid” to remove umbrellas and seating from parking places in front of the Cavity Bar at Venus Bay, as reported in the Sentinel Times on January 24th.  This short sighted reactive action is not helpful to community amenity/well-being nor to the staff and employers affected.

Bass Coast Shire Council is also guilty of many things including not thinking and following through with programs designed to benefit the community as a whole.  Two years ago, BCSC advertised a plan to make the central business precinct at Wonthaggi more pedestrian friendly by extending pedestrian areas with outdoor seating and attractive landscaping.  Local business owners panicked at the thought of losing a few parking spaces and the Council caved in and nothing except for a few pedestrian crossings has materialized.  These crossings give small protection against the busy traffic along Graham Street and the increasing prevalence of 40 tonne gravel trucks motoring down Graham Street does nothing to encourage the development of outdoor hospitality venues and of course there has been no attempt to improve the street ambience with landscaping and attractive seating.

Back in 2017, Tallangatta Township (in Towong Shire) had a very linear, unattractive appearance with shopfronts adjacent to a 3 metre, straight concrete footpath and continuous parking spaces down the street punctuated with telegraph poles.  When the Shire advertised a plan to remodel the main street with landscaped zones, outdoor seating and underground power, some of the business community jacked up, claiming loss of business due to reduced parking for cars.  The Shire stuck to their plan and today Tallangatta is a bustling township with a very attractive landscaped main street enjoyed by visitors and locals alike.  The business owners have not lost patronage and the town is busier than ever; and there are no 40 tonne gravel trucks rampaging up the main street.  Bass Coast Shire Council needs to reset its priorities.

The other impediment to the availability of hospitality venues is the total absence of affordable accommodation for potential hospitality staff within walking distance of town centres and hospitality sites.

This problem is nation-wide.  It could be solved easily by Local Government acquiring some real estate within walking distance of town centres and providing low-cost hostel style accommodation to potential hospitality staff.  Apart from local unemployed people there would also be casual staff such as university students that might take advantage of cheap hostel-style accommodation if available.

It’s no good just whining about the lack of hospitality staff along the Bass Coast, we need to do something constructive to overcome the problem. 

It could be a win-win solution for hospitality workers as well as the broader community because of the provision of more open-air hospitality venues along the coast.  It’s just unfortunate that Local

Governments and many individual councilors  cannot see how simple the path to community wellness could be.

Edward Minty, North Wonthaggi