Issue - meetings

This report brings to Members’ attention permissions which are being sought by two organisations to operate pavement cafés for extended periods of time and proposes in response a revised Policy against which these and all future applications for licences should be judged.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member for City Strategy be advised to:

(i)                 Adopt Option B in paragraph 9 of the report:

·        Adopt a standard set of conditions which would redress the balance between the legitimate operation of a facility for the public to enjoy taking refreshments in the open air and the right of the public to use the public highway occupied by any facility.  Applications for licences which would operate within these conditions could be delegated to Officers to determine.  Those which did not would be referred to Members for determination.

This arrangement would allow the Highway Authority to make an assessment of a proposal on purely traffic management grounds and keep a distinction between the need to gain Planning consent and the need to obtain a licence;

(ii)               Adopt the Standard Conditions described in Annex A of the report and delegate to Officers the granting of a pavement licence that complies with these conditions;

(iii)             Approve that decisions on applications for pavement café licences that do not meet these conditions be referred to this committee for a decision;

(iv)              Approve that current licences can be renewed for one further year from their renewal date under their existing terms;

(v)                Approve that a review of the policy be carried out after it has been in operation for six months.

Decision of the Executive Member for City Strategy

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:                  So as to protect the Highways Authorities position in relation to the discharge of its Statutory Duties.

Members considered a report which advised them of permissions which were being sought by two organisations to operate pavement cafés for extended periods of time and proposed in response a revised policy against which these and all future applications for licences should be judged.

The report presented two options:

Option A :            Allow the current practise to carry on as it does now with an automatic Highway licence being granted following the grant of Planning consent;

Option B :            Adopt a standard set of conditions which would redress the balance between the legitimate operation of a facility for the public to enjoy taking refreshments in the open air and the right of the public to use the public highway occupied by any facility.  Applications for licences which would operate within these conditions could be delegated to Officers to determine.  Those which did not would be referred to Members for determination.

Cllr Merrett proposed a motion to defer the item to enable further consultation to take place and to carry out a review in line with Licensing Policies. This was seconded by Cllr D’Agorne. This motion was voted upon and was lost.

Members discussed the issues surrounding the granting of licences and the issues for businesses who had already been granted a licence and were fulfilling the conditions of that licence.  

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member for City Strategy be advised to:

(i)                 Adopt Option B in paragraph 9 of the report :

• Adopt a standard set of conditions which would redress the balance between the legitimate operation of a facility for the public to enjoy taking refreshments in the open air and the right of the public to use the public highway occupied by any facility.  Applications for licences which would operate within these conditions could be delegated to Officers to determine.  Those which did not would be referred to Members for determination.
• This arrangement would allow the Highway Authority to make an assessment of a proposal on purely traffic management grounds and keep a distinction between the need to gain Planning consent and the need to obtain a licence;

(ii)      Adopt the Standard Conditions described in Annex A of the report and delegate to Officers the granting of a pavement licence that complies with these conditions;

(iii)      Approve that decisions on applications for pavement café licences that do not meet these conditions be referred to this committee for a decision;

(iv)      Approve that current licences can be renewed for one further year from their renewal date under their existing terms;

(v)      Approve that a review of the policy be carried out after it has been in operation for six months.

Decision of the Executive Member for City Strategy

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:                  So as to protect the Highways Authorities position in relation to the discharge of its Statutory Duties.