We have been critical of the Council over their handling of the leasing of this facility and their lack of initial resident communication of what the Council expected from the tenderers. More importantly, they did not consider what the residents expected from this facility.

The “Ripples” management won the tender and we have had more information about what changes can be expected, including a $500K improvement to the kiosk. To date the availability of the basics for a beach kiosk and the kiosk being open on a regular basis for the preferred time has been impacted by the weather, Covid 19 and possibly cost issues.

Council is now requiring further biodiversity/environmental and heritage reports and a traffic and parking report ( which should have been provided at the time of tender acceptance). It seems that hours of operation are also likely to be reset at: Mon and Tues - 7 am to 5 pm and Wed to Sun - 7am to 7pm (previously Wed to Sat was 7am to 10pm). This, and the extra report requirements may be proving a difficulty for the owners and we now ask beach goers and locals to advise us of what you want to see at this service venue and whether you are satisfied with the facilities available.

The “Ripples” group is a very successful chain of restaurants and kiosks and maybe we need to give more consideration to their business needs and have a better understanding of their plans for the site. Your thoughts please.

More information here