A program to help Lake Macquarie hospitality businesses thrive and adhere to social distancing through food trucks and use of council land and street parking for outdoor dining will be extended.
The VibrantSCENE Pilot Program kicked off on August 1 and was due to end on May 31, but will now continue for a further 12 months.
The food truck program was the more successful, with seven hamlets established across the city and 40 applications received so far this financial year, while only one outdoor dining application was approved from nine received.
Five applications are being assessed, two are on Crown or private land, and one was changed to council's footway dining program. In the report, council acknowledged the outdoor dining applications raised some challenges, which staff have worked to address.
Councillor Kevin Baker said while the program hadn't "fully succeeded" as much as would have liked to see, the pilot was "a very important first step".
"It's creating jobs," he said. "Those jobs in a lot of cases are hospitality jobs, those jobs are in massive need right now."
Councillor Colin Grigg said he hoped the program could be implemented permanently.
