Picnic operators warn North Sydney Council fees could force them out

16 September 2026

Small picnic businesses have warned they may abandon North Sydney’s parks after councillors rejected an attempt to overturn a new commercial fee structure that operators say is unfair and financially unsustainable.

Four business owners addressed North Sydney Council before it voted down a rescission motion seeking to revisit the policy adopted in June.

Under the new schedule, commercial picnic operators using a category one park face an annual $300 permit fee and an additional charge of $15 per person for each event. Operators said that meant a picnic for 20 people would attract a $300 event fee, compared with $25 for a fitness class of the same size.

The proposed replacement would have exempted commercial picnics of up to 15 people and brought larger events more closely into line with weddings, private gatherings and personal training sessions.

Milk and Honey Picnics founder Vicki Ryvchin  said the businesses affected were predominantly small, female-owned operations working on narrow margins.

“We are not multinationals or large corporations,” she said. “We are overwhelmingly female small business owners who put it all on the line to do what we love, bring joy and provide for our families.”

Ryvchin  said the additional cost would have prevented a recent fairy-themed birthday picnic held at Mary Booth Lookout for a local family with an autistic child.

“If these fees came in, we could not operate in the local area at all and your revenue from us would be nil,” she said.

Pop & Picnics owner and Kurraba Point resident Paige Montgomery said picnic operators accepted that they should contribute towards using public land but wanted the council to apply a consistent approach.

She said small weddings involving up to 15 people attracted no charge, private gatherings were capped at $200 and a 20-person bootcamp cost $25, while commercial picnics were charged per person without a cap.

“A picnic for 20 people is $300 while a bootcamp is $25,” Montgomery said.

She said the council had based the picnic fee on prices advertised to customers without adequately accounting for expenses including catering, flowers, staffing, transport, insurance and storage.

Montgomery also told councillors that the NSW Small Business Commission had made representations to the council about the policy.

Grazing Grazes Sydney owner Ali Farid said: “A 48 person picnic, which is a handful of picnics a year for us in a category one park pays $792 for three hours. A 48-person private gathering in the same park with reserved space, which we don’t take up, pays $220. So you would charge us nearly four times more to take up less space. That is not a decision. It is a drafting error. The fix is one line cap, a commercial picnic charge at a large gathering rate for that park, $200 per three hours in category one plus GST. Nobody should pay more for not reserving space than those reserving it.” 

All Things Picnic owner Joita Karmakar said a picnic business bringing 20 guests into a park would be charged $300 for each event, while a dog-walking company paid a $300 annual fee without a separate usage charge.

“I currently do around 15 to 20 events each year in North Sydney,” she said. “If these fees go ahead as they are, I may have no choice to turn down a lot of these bookings.”

Councillor Efi Carr, who supported the rescission, said the policy imposed disproportionate charges on commercial picnics compared with other activities having a similar footprint and impact.

“The small businesses and micro-businesses are exactly what we should be supporting for a thriving local economy,” she said.

However, Councillor MaryAnn Beregi and Councillor Angus Hoy opposed reopening the decision, arguing that no new evidence, unintended consequence or procedural flaw had emerged since the policy was adopted.

Hoy said the fees had been deliberately set and the rescission was an attempt to change an agreed policy position rather than correct a drafting error.

In reply, Councillor Jessica Keen said the disparity had been an oversight and warned the charges would send businesses elsewhere or force them to close.

“You’re going to see a number of businesses go out of business because of this policy, and that’s a shame,” she said.

The rescission motion was defeated, leaving the commercial picnic charges in place.