Call for ‘street cafe culture’ to support industry
Bath MP Wera Hobhouse has secured cross-party support for her calls for the Government to pave the way for more cafes, restaurants and bars to use closed roads to enable social distancing between customers.
Her appeal, coinciding with English Tourism Week, comes as a tenth of hospitality business polled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said they feared for their cash reserves and risked collapsing within weeks.
Writing to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the cross-party group urged the Government to “ensure that businesses and local authorities have the confidence and support they need to plan for the creation of a safe street cafe culture”.
Ms Hobhouse said: “I fear for the economic impact for communities across the country, particularly the loss of people’s livelihoods.
“The Government must urgently resolve the gaps in their plans, including addressing social distancing requirements across the hospitality sector by embracing a new street cafe culture. Temporarily allowing these businesses to use nearby streets and other open-air spaces would give confidence to both businesses and customers.”
❝ Communities have lost much more than a place to drink coffee – they’ve lost their hearts Chris Addey
Jane Campbell-howard, the owner of the Society Cafe in central Bath, said: “Spacing is obviously the main issue for us and all of our friends in the hospitality business. Having more space in which to seat customers would give us, and everyone else in our industry, the opportunity to slowly and very carefully re-emerge from this lockdown, and would help customers to enjoy hospitality more safely, throughout summer.”
Chris Addey, the owner of the cafe 8e Chelsea Road in Bath, added: “Under lockdown, communities have lost much more than a place to drink coffee – they’ve lost their hearts. Regenerating this cafe culture, therefore, takes on the added significance of trying to kickstart society. Key for cafe owners like me, will be how we adapt to social distancing constraints through innovative use of space, particularly outdoor space.”