Couple get extra seating for cafe
A couple who faced going broke after being told they were only allowed 12 chairs in their cafe have been granted extra seating – but it’s not enough to save the business, they say.
Jimmy Fairweather, 34, and Katie Funnell, 28, were told yesterday they could have up to 36 chairs in total at their Central
Otago cafe, Black Rabbit Kitchen & Bar. The business has been operating with seating for up to about 70 patrons until Labour Weekend, when the council notified the owners they had to remove all but 12 of their chairs inside and 12 chairs outside.
Central Otago District Council chief executive Sanchia Jacobs said council staff had been working with the owners and the land owners to help them change their consent conditions. The full application was received on Tuesday and staff had dropped other work to ensure it was processed immediately. They could now seat 36 people, ‘‘as applied for’’, Jacobs said.
That meant they could now have a maximum of 36 patrons in total inside and/ or outside at any one time.
But the couple, who bought the cafe in Bannockburn, on the outskirts of Cromwell, a year ago, say 36 is not enough.
Jacobs said the cafe was situated in a residential zone, which required it to have appropriate consents to operate.
‘‘The site was originally consented for a shop with a small cafe, and over time has been subject to changes in consent.
‘‘When a complaint is made the council has no choice under the Resource Management Act (RMA) but to respond, no matter the circumstances. In this instance there has been concern raised by a number of people about various breaches of consent.’’
Mayor Tim Cadogan said the council was ‘‘between a rock and a hard place’’.
‘‘On the one hand no-one wants to see what some might view as red tape getting in the way of business, but on the other hand, the council is legislatively required to uphold the provisions of the RMA. In this case I am pleased that staff were able to resolve the issue within hours of receiving a completed application.’’
Council staff would work with the landlord and business owners for any future consent applications they might want to lodge for other changes, he said.
Bannockburn resident Duncan Faulkner said he was organising a BYO Chair Protest tomorrow morning outside the cafe.