Jennifer and her business partner were looking at opening a cafe in Clifton Hill.

Signing a lease

They found a great site on the street that they loved and set about securing a lease for their cafe. The building was previously a small manufacturing warehouse. It had some interesting features that they wanted to keep and incorporate into the cafe.

Contacting us for permits

Jennifer contacted us to find out what permits she needed to operate her kitchen and prepare food. However, she didn't meet any Yarra staff in person and didn't have a full understanding of the permit process, costs, or potential for delays.

We advised Jennifer that she would need to apply for:

• an environmental health permit to cover food preparation and handling
• a planning permit to use the site as a food and drinks premises, install signage on the building and reduce car parks (there was no on-site parking).
• a building permit and a change of class application prepared by a private building surveyor.

She was advised that the planning process would take around 3 months.

Dealing with delays

During the advertising period for her planning permit, objections from neighbouring residents pushed the permit approval back a further 6 months.

Jennifer was unaware of the permits, regulations and processes required to open a cafe. This caused a delay of almost one year before the fit-out could start. During this delay Jennifer and her business partner were paying $10,000 a month in rent. This experience almost made the business unviable and the stress had a significant impact on her health.