Businesses in Stonnington will be supported through the unprecedented COVID-19 public health crisis by initiatives passed at an urgent Council meeting on Friday 26 March.
City of Stonnington Mayor, Cr Steve Stefanopoulos, said this will deliver support to a sector facing extraordinary hardship.
"Our businesses are the lifeblood of our community. They're the precincts, shops, cafes, retailers and hospitality venues that make Stonnington the best place to live in Melbourne. And right now, they need our help," Cr Stefanopoulos said.
"Councillors recently gathered for an urgent meeting to unanimously pass millions of dollars of initiatives to help our residents, businesses and precincts.
"This is an unprecedented global situation and these initiatives, along with state and federal government support, will help our businesses.
"We will recover from this, and we want our business community to be there when we do. Let's get through this as a community and look out for each other. Check in on your family, friends and loved ones.
"Stay safe at home, wash your hands and, if you're leaving the house for anything essential, practice social distancing. I cannot stress this enough," he said.
Support for businesses will include:
- Refunding $1m worth of three different permit fees – Food Permits, Health Permits and Footpath Trading Permits.
- Additional investment in marketing and promotion of our precincts during the recovery.
- Rental relief for food businesses at Council premises and facilities.
- Adopting seven day payment terms for suppliers for the duration of the State of Emergency period.
- Significantly reducing parking enforcement through the State of Emergency period.
- No parking fees until 30 September 2020 at selected Council carparks for six months
- A business hotline to direct businesses to support services at the local, state and federal level and a dedicated web platform to bring related information together.
- Strengthening the Stonnington business concierge service.
"These initiatives will help us support businesses through this unprecedented situation and be there with them when we recover," added Cr Stefanopoulos.
City of Stonnington Chief Executive Officer Jacqui Weatherill said work is underway to provide this support to businesses.
"We are working to deliver this support package to our businesses as quickly as we can.
"We're providing information about support available from all levels of government for businesses, there's a lot of information available and we are here to help people understand it.
"A process will be in place soon for businesses to receive refunds of permits, we will contact businesses directly so there is no action for them to take now," Ms Weatherill said.
This initiative was endorsed by Councillors on Friday 27 March. Specific details about the support package will be available at stonnington.vic.gov.au/business and provided directly to businesses.
See our community information on Coronavirus for more general information about how we are responding to this pandemic.
