Funds will help keep customers safe – and warm
NEWCASTLE’S cafes and bars could get a share of £250,000 to keep outdoor seating areas open and warm during the winter months, in a bid to cut the risk of a new spike in Covid-19 infections.
City council bosses are set to hand over a quarter of a million pounds to help up to 150 businesses improve their outdoor spaces or open new ones.
Many of Tyneside’s hospitality businesses were forced to turn to new al fresco areas in order to keep operating during lockdown restrictions and the changes proved a huge hit in many cases, with scenes of people lining the sun-drenched pavements of Grey Street or the Bigg Market prompting comparisons to a bustling European capital. And while the cold weather has now set in, local authority bosses want to stop people from packing inside bars and pubs through the winter and thereby increasing the risk of Covid spreading.
The council said that grants of up to £2,000, to be administered by the NE1 business improvement district company, will provide funding for new tables, chairs, heaters, parasols, lights, and planting.
The number of businesses with pavement licences in Newcastle has already jumped from 59 before Covid hit to more than 150 now, which the council said was the third highest number of any area outside London.
Coun Ged Bell, the council’s cabinet member for development, neighbourhoods and transport, said: “Newcastle’s pavement cafes have been a real success story at what has been an incredibly difficult time for our city’s much loved hospitality trade.
“We, with NE1, supported a number of businesses during the pandemic with grants to help create welcoming outside spaces, which thousands of people have subsequently enjoyed.
“However, we know at that stage there wasn’t the funding available to help everyone, and that many more pubs, bars and restaurants in both the city centre and our neighbourhoods could benefit, particularly with regards funds to make their outdoor areas usable during the colder months.
“Covid is still with us, and being outside, in the fresh air, reduces the risks of catching or passing the virus on, so in now being able to offer more grants – using Government ‘Welcome Back’ funding – we hope to not only ensure one of our most important industries has the greatest chance of success, supporting jobs and our sense of community, but that venues can keep people as safe as possible when they socialise.”
BUSINESSES COULD GET CASH FOR OUTSIDE SEATING