Orange's restaurants, cafes and playground equipment can be re-opened to the public from Friday following a relaxation in COVID-19 restrictions announced by the state government.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
However cafes and restaurants will be limited to 10 people at a time.
Orange City Council CEO David Waddell said a meeting of the council's executive staff on Monday would discuss the changes.
"We will re-open as quickly as we can," he said.
We are going to try and do it.
- David Collins, restaurant manager at Charred
"We went into coronavirus following state and federal government guidelines and we will come out of it following state and and federal government guidelines."
The relaxation also allows outdoor pools to be used by the public.
Mr Waddell said that would be discussed but he was unsure whether the pool was normally open at this time of year.
Charred restaurant manager David Collins said they would look at re-opening on Friday. "We're semi-prepared for it," he said.
"We will look at the 10-person opening and maybe doing takeaway at the same time. We might do two sittings or just one. We are going to try and do it."
Mr Collins said they would be closely following COVID-19 health and social distancing rules and practices.
However Byng Street Cafe and Local Store owner Jeremy Norris said they would not re-open for just 10 people.
"We'll keep things as it is at the moment. It's not really worth opening for 10 people. We will re-open when everything's back to normal," he said.
Orange Business Chamber president Ash Brown said he expected smaller cafes would re-open but the larger operations would not open for 10 people.
He said it would suit cafes which only had seating for a small number of customers.
- READ MORE: NSW gets $310 million drought relief boost
Mr Brown said it might be harder for larger cafes to regulate the 10-people rule.
"You are going to have to have security at the door and that's another wage."
Mr Brown said it was vital the relaxation of regulations did not lead to an outbreak.
"The government has done an amazing job flattening the curve and are very cautious at the moment," he said.
"Easy as it goes is a good policy. If we go 10 now and then 20 and then 30 and slowly work it up [that would be good]."
Premier Gladys Berejiklian also announced groups of up to five people could visit another person's home and groups of 10 could meet outdoors from Friday.
And 10 guests at weddings, 20 people at indoor funerals, 30 at outdoor funerals plus up to 10 people at churches will be allowed.
Outdoor equipment including gyms and playgrounds can be used with caution, with people encouraged to sanitise the equipment.
However, holiday travel to regional NSW is still not allowed.
HAVE YOUR SAY
- Send us a letter to the editor using the form below ...