Charge market rent for footpath leases

Some cafe owners, not satisfied with the privileges they now enjoy, want Gosford Council to reduce the already generous fees it charges them to exploit public land for private profit.

Some of them have the arrogance to lay down conditions on which they will pay the fees and even want to dictate how council spends the lousy seven cents a day they pay for each chair they place on the footpath.

Many owners of commercial premises are taking liberties by encroaching on public footpaths with advertising material, shopgoods, and tables and chairs.

These obstructions cause visual pollution and inconvenience to pedestrians, especially the aged and disabled who are a significant proportion of ratepayers on the Central Coast.

Their access and enjoyment should not be restricted by commercial opportunists who take advantage of council's future to manage public open space in the public interest.

If footpath dining is to be allowed at all, the council should charge at least the true market rent per square metre.

Any difference between the council's net revenue from the operation and the commercial market rent is a public subsidy (an unearned profit) that benefits the visible local retailer but also the not-so-visible global wholesale suppliers who are owed nothing by Central Coast ratepayers.

I strongly urge councillors to oppose any reduction in fees for footpath dining.

I also urge councillors to take action to remove all unauthorised obstructions from footpaths without fear or favour and without delay.

John Collins, Woy Woy.