THE SS&A Club has hosed down some concerns about its proposed Christmas-New Year food truck festival being solely metropolitan-based outlets.
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Club chief executive Gerard Darmody revealed at a community forum on Monday night a mix of up to 15 local, regional and metropolitan players would be involved in the festival planned for its car park area near the David Street entrance provided council granted approval in late November.
Mr Darmody also clarified a second development application sitting with council for a temporary outdoor food and beverage area involving a smaller number of food trucks for a six-month period from early December was a way to offset the impact of closing a major downstairs kitchen for a long overdue upgrade.
“This is a toe in the water to see if there is an appetite for that space,” he said.
“Our main aim is to be able to provide capacity in a dining sense while we do some pretty major surgery on our kitchen.
“We haven’t stipulated where the providers will come from.
“Our challenge is to get the application approved and then go to the market and see who might be interested.”
The Boxing Day to New Year’s Eve food truck festival is proposed to run between noon and 9pm each day with 18 of 19 submissions received by council opposed to the venture.
Dean Street business owner Barry Young said there were genuine fears among businesses about the food festival’s impact.
“The immediate concern is with a number of restaurants which have indicated that their futures will be questionable,” he said.
“There is also a fear among wholesalers that this will have a negative impact long-term for them.
“A key reason people visit centres is that food and beverage culture.
“The SS&A knows their market very well and understand what the peak times are just as well as the rest of us do.
“Particularly those six months are where the bricks and mortar businesses earn the revenue that allows them to operate for 12 months.”
Cr Murray King agreed with a suggestion the food truck festival be held in an off-peak period.
Hospitality business owner Ordette Mannering backed the SS&A’s proposals provided there was local involvement.
“We are getting a little bit CBD-centric,” she said.
“But I wouldn’t be in support it if there was 15 trucks coming in from Melbourne.
“This is also an opportunity to step up as well and attract people to their businesses.”
