Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill has announced additional measures to support local restaurants and food and drink outlets following further restrictions on indoor gatherings put in place by the Federal Government today.
“After the Prime Minister’s press conference today, we want to assure our restaurants and food and drink outlets that we will support them however we can,” Cr Hill said.
“These measures will see applications fast-tracked and all fees waived for restaurants and food and drink outlets to allow them to trade outside their premises.
“This will give them more space to operate and abide by the new limit on indoor gatherings of one person per four square meters.”
Cr Hill said the new measures announced by the Federal Government are potentially disastrous for local businesses.
“There are very few local businesses that would be able to meet the one person per four square meter restriction,” Cr Hill said.
“We are going to do everything we can to support these businesses to keep their doors open and will now take this measure to the Special Council meeting scheduled for Monday.
“We understand the importance of keeping people safe, but we also need to keep our businesses operating.
“This is an incredibly tough social distancing measure and I encourage each one of us to rally behind our small businesses as much as we can during this time.”
Restaurants and food and drink outlets will still be required to meet relevant standards and secure all other relevant licences and permits from other bodies.
These measures will be included in Council’s proposed multimillion-dollar support package with full details to be finalised early next week.
