BEFORE the idea of evolving the city's outdoor dining areas in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Brian Harrison was looking for a way to expand the number of people he could seat outside his cafe.
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Mr Harrison owns B-Jays Cafe in King Street and, like many other hospitality businesses, was looking to innovate to help his store recover.
"It was early on before the (outdoor dining stuff) had been proposed," he said. "I rang (council) on a Wednesday to inquire about my seating outside and two days later a woman from council (visited) said 'we can do better and block these car parks off'.
"The permits and everything were through in a week."
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Mr Harrison, who has owned the cafe for five years, said he was grateful for council's efforts which had boosted his business.
"When they came up said they could block carparks, they were also in talks to do in Bull and View streets," he said.
"People forget about us, we're a little shop out the way (of the CBD). So the best thing has been the awareness from shoppers at Target who normally have their heads down. Now they are coming to have a look at the area."
City of Greater Bendigo regional and sustainable development acting manager Bridget Maplestone said intially more than 80 business inquired about evolving their outdoor dining spaces.
There are currently 48 applications from Bendigo, Eaglehawk and Heathcote businesses that are being considered.
"It's going really well and the take up has been largely positive," Ms Maplestone said. "(When) you go around town at any time you can see people are enjoying it.
"The initial take up was really quick and we tried to help out businesses as quick as we could by setting up an internal group to work with individuals. Pretty much in all cases we found solution.
"We've received really positive feedback, which in council you don't always get. But it's been fantastic and I think the residents have really appreciated and it is great for tourism as well.
"This trial runs until June next year when we will evaluate how its gone and work with businesses again."
B-Jay's Cafe stayed open through the lockdowns, changed its hours and introduced take home parma and burger nights for its customers.
"The days dropped off quite a lot," he said. "We started parma nights on Wednesdays and burger nights on Fridays. I was head chef at the Old Boundary, so can cook anything.
"Those nights really pulled us through. The loyalty from regular and new customers was amazing. We have an extra 1000 Facebook followers and seem to be doing what people really want."