Yarra Ranges Shire Council has waived food and health registration renewal fees for nearly 1500 businesse for 2022, as part of a temporary COVID relief measure.

The Council has waived new applications for footpath trading to support businesses operating in a COVIDSafe environment temporarily, until September. This is in recognition that many of businesses in the hospitality and health industries have been severely impacted by another difficult year of pandemic restrictions.

“We decided to waive registrations for some of our hardest-hit businesses over the last two years – businesses that are still experiencing the impacts of COVID-19 on staffing, cancellations and uncertainty,” said Mayor Jim Child.

“Our businesses have been through so much, and we hope that taking renewal fees off the table for another year helps make a small difference.”

The Council’s COVID Recovery Fund will be used to subsidise these fees for the second year running.

Businesses that have been notified that they are eligible to have their registration fees waived for 2022 still need to apply to renew their registration.