Bid to keep outdoor eating on the table
Businessman considers taking legal action
A Perth businessman is considering launching legal action against the council over a decision preventing cafe quarter business owners from re-extending their outdoor seating areas.
Pub, restaurant and cafe staff put extra tables and chairs on St John’s Place to make up for the space they lost to accommodate customers within their premises through the requirement to keep people a metre apart because of the coronavirus.
But the local authority ordered all businesses in the quarter to remove their newly expanded outdoor areas last month after it received complaints from people unable or uncomfortable with having to walk on the cobbled area around Perth City Hall to get around them.
A council spokesperson said at the time it would “continue to work with businesses in this area to find a solution that will provide them with additional space while guaranteeing safe access for pedestrians”.
But the PA can reveal council officials have now told business owners they have been unable to come up with a “cost effective” solution due to “risks associated with the anticipated commencement of work to the city hall”.
Derek Petterson, who owns the quarter’s Kirkside Bar and has been leading calls for larger outdoor areas to be reintroduced, said the claim came as a complete surprise as he had been led to believe PKC was prepared to do everything in its power to allow business owners to put extra seats back.
He revealed officials had told him they had been looking at resurfacing the area around Perth City Hall so people would not have to walk over cobbles to get around extended outdoor areas if they were reintroduced.
And he reckons the council’s sudden decision to abandon this option could see business owners who had been hoping to increase their capacity again lose out on thousands of pounds of potential earnings every week.
Mr Petterson told the PA: “I don’t see where the council are coming from raising budget constraints at a time when they’re spending money on stupid boxes at the top of the High Street which the people in the street don’t even want.
“As for the city hall, I’ve lived in Perth since 1997 and I haven’t seen anything happen to the hall in all that time.”
Emails Mr Petterson has shared with the PA show PKC city and rural town centre management officer Emily Queen wrote to him on August 24 confirming staff were looking at a “surfacing solution” which would allow businesses to put extra seating back along St John’s Place.
She said: “Following a meeting scheduled for tomorrow, we will be better placed on contractor availability for a surfacing solution. By midweek we will also be better informed regarding the city hall project ... which as you are aware is a vital consideration in working towards making this a more permanent solution.”
However Ms Queen then wrote to
Mr Petterson on September 4 to say: “I regret to inform you that following review of options ... we have been unable to identify a workable cost effective solution due to risks associated with the anticipated commencement of work to the city hall and pedestrian/vehicle conflict with construction traffic in the area.”
Mr Petterson added: “I’m just taken aback at the council’s change of heart over this. This decision could lead to businesses losing thousands of pounds a week.
“I’m now considering forming a legal response to this over loss of earnings [and] I think there are a few other business owners in the quarter who would be happy to support it.”
The PA asked Perth and Kinross Council what options it considered which would have allowed businesses to re-extend their outdoor seating areas and why it considers work to refurbish Perth City Hall might be starting soon but received no response before going to print yesterday.