Street-side dining

The City of Hobart is working on developing a formal Street-side Dining Program with guidelines for traders interested in creating their own outdoor dining areas, ensuring the streets remain functional and safe.

Project background

The project began in early 2023 to help support small business navigate out of COVID-19. During the trial phase, the City worked with a number of traders who had requested an expansion of their outdoor dining areas.

The Street-side Dining project also aimed to improve the accessibility of Hobart's streets by enabling continuous-line-of-travel on footpaths along the building line in the location of the participating hospitality traders.

It has been praised for adding vibrancy to the city's streets and attracting more visitors and locals. A City of Hobart survey showed 94% of the public and 88% of surrounding businesses supported the trial.

Next steps

Following positive feedback over the 18-month trial from the public and local businesses, the Hobart City Council gave the green light for the next stage of the project. This will involve developing a formal program with guidelines for traders interested in creating their own outdoor dining areas.

The City will also cover the costs for removing the current temporary installations at the businesses involved in the trial. The businesses will then meet installation and maintenance expenses of the reinstalled outdoor dining areas, which use more durable materials and will remain in place for five years.