Uncontained joy as cafes delivered to Eden Wharf | Video, photos

Now the lease for the land has been signed with Transport for NSW all that remains is for council to progress the DA, which was submitted in July 2022, and give approval for the waste water connections, both of which president of the Eden Chamber of Commerce Eric Wolske, said were progressing.

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On Wednesday morning with the two 40 foot containers each weighing 10t and two 20 foot containers weighing 6.5t, waiting in Eden after the journey from Brisbane, where they were built by Port Shipping Containers, Sapphire Coast Cranes was on standby.

Drivers manoeuvred their trucks into place as the team from Sapphire Coast Cranes lifted the containers off the trucks and into a pre-determined space.

The cafes have been placed in a 'U' configuration and artificial grass will be put down in the precinct with seating for up to 40 people.

Inside the containers there are commercial kitchen fittings including fridges, cookers, food prepartion areas, sinks and in the case of the seafood unit, a chilled display area.

It took three trucks to bring the four shipping containers from Brisbane to Eden.

Daniel Hillbrich is a truck owner at Last Minute Freight, Sydney and had one of the large 10t containers on the back of his truck.

"It was 18 hours driving from Brisbane; I left on Monday and got to Eden at 5pm on Tuesday evening," he said.

Tony Bowditch, owner operator at F & D Haulage for 54 years also brought down one of the 10t containers.

"The last time I was here was 20 years ago and then the Princes Highway was a dirt road in places," he said.

When the truckies start talking kilometres Mr Bowditch proudly proclaimed he had 3.7 million kilometres on the clock of his 20-year-old truck.

"It used to be 21 hours from Newcastle to Perth and back but the roads are good now compared to what they used to be," Mr Bowditch said.

Mr Wolske said they were currently working through some additional requirements to satisfy council and State Planning & Environment processes - specifically, trade waste water and connection to services.

"Eden Chamber of Commerce has been working (and continues to work) as quickly as possible to 'fast-track' the application for trade waste. The containers are not able to be connected to services until this application is approved," Mr Wolske said.

"The Eden Chamber of Commerce have now had a further extension to the project end date approved. We are hoping this latest extension will provide enough time for approvals and getting the connections done.

"Given that it was necessary to delay the process for the aesthetic items required to complete the project, the Eden Chamber of Commerce also sought approval for the final funding payment to be advanced.

"This will ensure we can finalise payments to these outstanding contractors/providers without delay. Officials from the BSBR Fund confirmed their approval late last week," Mr Wolske said.

The idea of cafes in containers came about during a series of town meetings in 2020, after it was announced existing wharf buildings would be demolished.

By February 2022 the chamber was successful in obtaining $685,000 through the Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grants Program for the purchase and commercial fit-out of the containers to help address the ongoing gap in hospitality.

Mr Wolske said expressions of interest had been requested for businesses to run a cafe, takeaway, restaurant or fresh seafood outlet from the four containers which have been fitted out to match the four different types of food outlets.

There is disappointment that approvals were not finalised to fit the original plan that was to have the cafes ready for the 2022/23 summer season.

The connection to waste water services has been a bone of contention.

Each container has a cyclonic system that separates grease from water to allow the resulting grey water to be discharged into the waste water system. Grease traps are included as part of the fittings.

Mr Wolske said there were extended discussions over the waste water system with council wanting below ground plumbing and external traps. But now the water and waste service connections have been acknowledged by council and and the chamber has finalised payment for connection of services already.

Mr Wolske said he already had expressions of interest but given the extended time period, wanted to put it out there again, to ensure the best mix of hospitality services for as much of the year as possible.

"We will be arranging for anyone interested to be able to take a walk through the containers," he said.

Interested parties are asked to contact the chamber at secretary@oureden.com.au

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