OWNERS of Fingal Head café the Sheoak Shack have welcomed a decision by Tweed Shire Council to amend prohibitive parking levies affecting the popular eatery.
Councillors last Thursday approved a raft of initiatives aimed at cutting red tape and boosting economic development in the shire, including the parking amendments at Fingal.
Other initiatives included giving the Murwillumbah business area a “spring clean’’ by improving maintenance and landscaping around the town, as well as amending the shire’s road contribution plan to ease the burden on businesses at South Murwillumbah and the industrial estate.
Under the new parking arrangements at Fingal, the off-site parking contribution plan applying to the Marine Pde area of the coastal village will be extended to incorporate other businesses in the village, including the Sheoak Shack.
The move follows a groundswell of pressure from the Fingal community and Sheoak Shack supporters last year after council moved to impose prohibitive parking fees on the business.
Council also insisted on the provision of on-site parking sites at the business – a provision labelled a farce by the community considering the large public parking lot across the road from the café.
Sheoak Shack owner Andrea McKay welcomed the amendment but said the situation should never have arisen in the first place.
“We always expected it to be the same as the original contribution rate and then (council) tried to up it – they increased it by 400 per cent,’’ Ms McKay said.
“We argued against that – why should we have to pay more than for the other area? Now they have brought the rate back down to what we were always expecting it to be.’’
Ms McKay said the outcome represented a common-sense outcome for all.
“We suggested this in letters, we got 1500 people to write letters and sign things asking for the parking code to be revised so we could afford to pay the money,’’ she said.
“Now we will be able to pay the money and use the café as it was, so it is good news. It is a win-win situation for everyone.’’
Mayor Barry Longland said the solution was a fair one.
“Council has listened to business and the views of the Fingal Head and broader community and provided a solution which is mutually beneficial,’’ he said.
Ms McKay said she would now resubmit her development application to council.
