CLEVELAND has been tagged as the home of a new night-time eating venue to be made out of shipping containers.
Owners of Cleveland business 4 Simplicity, Sharon and Colin Mason, plan to open The Food Circus of the South East on 2400sq m of Redland City Council land behind Cleveland Library.
Council chief executive Bill Lyon, as the landowner’s delegate, signed off on a deal with 4 Simplicity on March 1, while council was in caretaker mode.
His consent paves the way for the business to submit a Development Application.
It is being assessed by council’s planning team and does not require impact assessments for surrounding businesses or neighbours.
Plans for the Food Circus of the South East show an eat street-style market with covered seating for 332, an extra 84 open air seats and formal seating for 416 in the building adjacent to the library.
Containers will be on site permanently but the markets will operate only on Friday evenings from 5pm-10pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 10am-10pm.
There will be no on site parking and plans are yet to define where toilets will be located.
Simplicity will lease the land, which council said was not needed for parking on weekends.
Council said getting the CEO's consent during the caretaker period prior to the election was necessary in order for the Development Application to be properly made and assessed.
A spokesman said Mr Lyon was carrying out an established direction by council voted on in June 2015 and upholding a proposal in a 2013 Jones Lang LaSalle report.
Despite the success of the Eat Street Markets in Hamilton, not everyone in Cleveland is happy with the plans.
Raby Bay Commercial Body Corporate chairman Kent Beal said parking would become more of a problem.
"There is already a parking problem in the area and this proposed market's hours of trade will coincide with our already peak demand parking needs," he said.
"This market would also be an unfair commercial advantage over existing restaurants who have to pay for rent and commercial outgoings including council rates, water charges and trade waste.
"These trade waste charges themselves have risen by over 100 per cent over the past five years.
“If this was to go ahead, Raby Bay Harbour would have no alternative but to install boom gates and charge for parking."
Body corporate for next door residential tower block, Sea Air, also had concerns and complained the market would go ahead without consulting neighbours.
Sea Air body corporate chairperson John Derbyshire said he was concerned about the amenity with "ugly" permanent shipping containers and noise from the markets.
"Neither the proponent nor the key powerbrokers in council seem to care about disturbing the peace and enjoyment of nearby residents," he said.
"The car park will also be unavailable for library users and regular events such as triathlons and Bloomfield Street Sunday Markets.
"The council is wearing two hats – one as an approving authority and the other as a developer. It should be very careful how it exercises these potentially competing roles."
