Council scraps pavement licence fee
A COUNCIL has scrapped fees for new pavement licences for Dales businesses wanting outside seating to help them bounce back during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The new licences had originally been priced at £100 each and will last for one year but last Thursday night Derbyshire Dales District Council voted to scrap this fee to give businesses a “lifeline”.
Tim Braund, director of regulatory services, says the council has had new responsibility thrust upon it without warning last week to oversee pavement licences for bars, cafes and restaurants to have outdoor seating.
He said applications could be refused on grounds of highways safety, public safety – including social distancing – and prevention of nuisance grounds.
Mr Braund expects the council to have 100 applications in the coming weeks, which will take some time to process. If the £100 charge was retained this would bring in £10,000 for the authority.
The new law allowing the pavement licences is currently going through Parliament and could be in force by the end of July.
Cllr Garry Purdy, leader of the authority, said the fee should be scrapped to help businesses bounce back.
Cllr Susan Hobson, deputy leader, said the council must
“continue to assist businesses” that have missed Mother’s Day and Easter trade already.
Cllr Mike Ratcliffe said the council must retain the fee due to “intolerable” pressure the licences pose to the authority.
Cllr Michele Morley said: “It would be a superb thing to support local businesses in the area.”
Mr Braund reassured: “It doesn’t mean there would be cafes on every corner, not all pavements are suitable. In some areas of Ashbourne it would mean people would have to walk in the street, which would not be acceptable.”
He said: “You might want to consider what signal you send out to businesses.”
Mr Braund said a group of businesses in Wirksworth have asked the authority if they could share a site owned by the council to adopt as their shared temporary outdoor areas.
Businesses would be allowed to put tables and chairs out on streets themselves that are closed to traffic through social distancing measures, but this would involve consultation with the emergency services to ensure prompt access to respond to incidents is always possible.
Mark Grist, who runs the Smiths Tavern in St John Street, Ashbourne, and is a former CAMRA chairman said: “I think it is a great idea and I think it is going to help a lot of businesses.
“From my own point of view it would be difficult for me to adopt, however, I should probably apply for it anyway if it is a free thing.
“I can only see that it will help businesses to get going again.
“There would potentially be more staffing costs to control the outside area but if you balance that with the takings from being able to use that outside area I’d think it has to be worth a go.
“I have a very, very small fronted pub which is only about six-foot wide but I could possibly have standing drinking – but then you would still need social distancing.
“It is a very good snippet of news. It would make sense for all pubs to apply for this.”
Mr Grist said he did not open for business on Saturday, July 4 when the Government allowed pubs to do so. He said he wanted time to plan for how the business would work, to see how other pubs managed themselves and to avoid what could be a harmful surge in customers.
Instead he reopened Monday, July 6.
He said: “It has been very tough but with grants I have been able to tread water. I’ve still had outgoing costs. I am in a position to be able to give it a go.”
Walter Scott, who runs the Queen’s Vaults micropub in Market Place, Ashbourne, said: “I think it is a good idea and I like the fact that it is free.”
He will be signing up for a pavement licence and had already contacted the council about them. Mr Scott said: “We’ve got to do what we can for these businesses to survive. It is the way forward.
“I have a very small pub and it will be a case of suck it and see. Nobody knows how all of this is going to pan out. I’ve heard some people say pub turnover could be down 80 per cent, some say 50 per cent.
“I’ve had regulars contact me to say they’re not coming in because they’re too scared. They’re going to wait for it to finish - we could be looking at another 12 months before all of this is over.
“We will survive here but I think some pubs won’t, which is a shame. It is going to be a brave new world.” on