I think you're treating these spaces as if the user is the business or the council parking meter, but in reality it's the person from the community. We've decided that the user of the space is the community, whether it's for parking, alfresco dining, or even just a little garden with a bench. As a member of the community sometimes I want to enjoy a coffee from Business A outside. Business A provides the tables and chairs, but ultimately I'm outside where I wanted to be, as the end user of the space.

I know we are interested in the economics of it right now, but I think we often get caught up in the money involved in what are ultimately community space management decisions. Surely someone should pay or be compensated for all this right? It doesn't have to be that way. Sometimes as a community we decide to put a little garden in a little spot, and that shouldn't need an arcane ritual of currency and bureaucracy.