Shire residents will now be able to get their first cup of coffee much earlier in the day.
Cafes in the main shopping areas of Cronulla, Gymea and Kirrawee will be allowed to open earlier under a six-month trial approved by Sutherland Shire Council this week.
The cafes will be allowed to open at 5.30am but not allowed to set up outdoor furniture until 6.30am or play music until 7am under the new arrangements.
Mayor Carmelo Pesce, who owns a coffee shop in Cronulla and another in Gymea, left the council chamber during the debate last Monday night.
The trial has the support of the Cronulla Chamber of Commerce.
But Councillor Kent Johns stood up for the rights of early morning coffee drinkers in other parts of the shire.
He asked for the trial be extended to cafes in Gymea Bay Road between President Avenue and Kingsway, and to Oak Road, Kirrawee between President Avenue and Flora Street.
“Just because you’ve got a beach doesn’t make you the only cosmopolitan community,” Cr Johns said.
“The people of Gymea and Kirrawee also enjoy their coffee.”
Currently cafes operate at varying trading times. This varies considerably with some cafes having no approval, some have older, more conservative approvals, while others have newer approvals with longer trading hours.
“Early morning activity is a new economy which presents an opportunity for local businesses,” a report to the council’s Shire Services Committee said.
“Cronulla has changed over the last decade to become a more diverse, active and cosmopolitan centre. Cronulla now comes to life early in the morning with people partaking in physical activity, commuters leaving for for work and nearby residents enjoying the growing number of local cafes.
“However there are some residents living close to the commercial centre whose lifestyles come into conflict with the early and late trade that has expanded in recent years.
“These residents have raised issues with the council particularly in relation to noise generated by cafe equipment, patrons, service vehicles and patron’s vehicles.”
But councillors were told there were very few residential buildings above cafes in the Cronulla Central business district and none in Gymea or Kirrawee.
Councillors were urged to approve the six-month trial.
Cr Carol Provan said noisy coffee shops were the least of Cronulla’s problems.
“I think the biggest problem down there is the sound of the traffic, not the coffee shops,” she said.
