With some misunderstanding circulating about the outdoor seating at the popular Rollers Bakehouse in Manly, it’s important our community understand some of the facts. 

Those who live in or visit Manly know that outdoor dining is widely enjoyed in the laneways, on the ocean front and on a number of our local streets. We know outdoor dining adds to Manly’s vibrancy and attractiveness as a destination and at Council we encourage its use by our local business community. 

However, while Council actively supports local business and the public’s enjoyment of Manly, it can’t be at the expense of public safety.

Rollers Bakehouse is situated in Rialto Lane - a service laneway filled with loading zones. It’s frequently congested with very large delivery vehicles, waste collection trucks and residential traffic accessing the apartment carparks. 

The area directly outside Rollers is a very constrained space with only 1.5m of footpath and less than 0.5m between seated patrons and the highly used roadway. A set of bollards is the only separation between patrons and semi-trailers delivering supplies to the local Coles supermarket and other businesses. These bollards are regularly damaged and some have been knocked over entirely. 

Rollers Bakehouse had been using the laneway for informal outdoor seating without an approval for a number of years, with Council making numerous requests to remove the seating for safety reasons. 

Last year Council agreed to a 9-month outdoor dining trial at Rollers, during which time we explored a range of options to reconfigure the laneway to improve safety, and reduce the loading zone hours or remove them entirely. 

Many other businesses in the vicinity objected to the loading zone alternatives – in fact Coles indicated it would have significant impacts to their operations. The reconfiguration options that were considered also proved unworkable due to their impact on residents or other businesses.  

While there were no injuries or deaths reported during the trial period, traffic engineers still class the risk as unacceptable and that outdoor dining is not suitable in this location. 

Rollers Bakehouse and some of their patrons are no doubt disappointed by the outcome of the trial. However, Council’s responsibility is to put community safety first. 

Rollers Bakehouse continues to operate and we expect patrons will continue to enjoy their  hospitality using the seating available inside the venue for many years to come.