City Hall works are putting off cafe customers

CUSTOMERS are said to be avoiding Perth’s pavement cafes due to works at City Hall.

The building renovation was due to start in 2019 but was put back a year and then delayed again due to the pandemic.

Construction finally began last year, and nearby firms say they expected it to be finished by now.

But the work continues, with business owners complaining people are being put off despite the nicer weather.

Iwona Kubasa, supervisor at Willows coffee shop, said: “People can see clear as day no one is sitting outside. Some customers during the nice weather not too long ago were asking if they could move inside because of the noise.

“I saw one customer with a white T-shirt on who sat down outside, and within five minutes his arms were covered.

“It’s going to look great when it is done, but it’s just inconvenient right now.”

Madison McRostie, manager at the Giddy Goose, said the work has delayed the planned opening of a beer garden.

She told us: “We have had to put three picnic benches outside, something we threw together to get outdoor seating.

“We can still get people in, but the loss of our beer garden is where we are really seeing the issues.

“The longer it takes us to build it, the longer it takes us to start getting revenue for that outside space.”

Vasile Tanasa, manager of Crido’s restaurant, said the fencing hides his business and has resulted in lost trade.

He said: “Last month we were expecting a big volume of customers.

“It’s mostly just weekends that are busy now. The numbers speak for themselves.

“We are getting less than half our usual number of customers. We can see how quiet it is.

“And it can get quite noisy with all the loud machinery.”

Perth and Kinross Council said it aims to have the work finished before the busy summer season.