A BUSINESS lost nearly 30 per cent of its morning takings after the majority of its parking spots were blocked off without notice.
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Having had no contact with Bathurst Regional Council, Brilliant Street cafe manager Ben Berger was naturally taken aback to see staff setting up a work site near his business on Friday.
"[Friday] morning at 6am as we were opening up the shop they were starting to block off six to eight of the car parks out the front. We weren't notified," he said.
Given the cafe's location on the high-traffic area of the highway between Bathurst and Orange, parking is crucial to the cafe's ability to draw in customers.
Mr Berger said that people found reversing parking difficult due to the limited space and some ended up driving off as a result.
"We only had four parks available to us throughout the day and I would conservatively say it has cost us about 30 per cent of our early morning takings," he said.
The cafe normally sells around 170 coffees by 11am, but on Friday it had only managed to sell 130.
Mr Berger said crews were expected to remain on site until around 2.30pm, meaning that there would have been just half an hour during business hours where the cafe had its full complement of parking.
He understood that council had to conduct the work, but he would have appreciated notification.
"Any notice would be good, but a couple of days at least so I that I could tell my regulars," he said.
He also thought, if possible, it would be better for work of this nature to start later in the day, around 10am, when it was less busy.
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Council's director of Engineering Services, Darren Sturgiss, said notification is generally only conducted for major works programs that will have a direct impact on road users, surrounding businesses and residents.
As the work on Friday was patching and surface repairs, council did not notify businesses or residents.
"Notification of this type of routine road maintenance is not usually conducted," Mr Sturgiss said.
"These works had minimal impact to road users and was conducted on the corner of the intersection. They did not occur directly out front of any businesses."