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Pavement café type facilities for local hospitality based businesses could be on the increase, with a call from Newry, Mourne and Down Council for hospitality businesses who would be interested in obtaining a pavement café licence to contact them. It is hoped that present fees could be Waived if agreed at a council meeting later this week.
The facility would help many Newry based hotels, café's, pubs and restaurants adhere to Covid-19 regulations involving the application of social distancing and the use of outdoor space, as well as helping them accommodate extra customers. Before Covid-19 several local venues already had chairs and tables placed outside.
Interested businesses are asked to contact the Council’s Licensing Department via email at: licensing@nmandd.org You should include details of your business name / type, business address and contact details.
The facility is made by council under the provisions of the Pavement Cafés Act (Northern Ireland) 2014 and furniture on a pavement café can include tables, chairs, umbrellas, barriers, heaters, menu boards, advertising boards, lighting or other approved fittings all of which must be able to be removed in 20 minutes.
Normally the Council will consider licences for hours between 8am and 11pm. Alcohol may be consumed (but not sold) in a pavement café area
In general, a pavement café area would need to be set up immediately adjacent to the premises. However, a licence for a remote café may be granted if the proposed café doesn't interfere with both vehicular and pedestrian traffic flow and the licence holder is able to demonstrate that they will be able to exercise proper control and supervision of the pavement café area.
Council documents show a three year licence costs £375 with a renewal costing £280 but it is hoped that a proposal at the Council's special SP&R meeting this Thursday 25 will see the fee waived.
Fee Waiver
Speaking on the matter Slieve Gullion Cllr Aoife Finnegan said “Council Officers are bringing a paper to the Councils Strategy Policy & Resources Committed (SPR) meeting this Thursday night, 25th June, which will present proposals on how we can make use of council owned spaces in our Towns and villages to facilitate social distancing, and how we can assist with the issuing of Pavement Café licenses,
" I would hope that the proposal to waiver the fee for such a licence which is currently £375 will be discussed and agreed”.
* The Councillor added "I have been liaising with owners of various hospitality businesses here in Crossmaglen about how initiatives like this can be rolled out by them in a practical and appropriate fashion and recently I contacted the Department for Communities urging it to work with the Department for Infrastructure and our Council in order to help ensure that obstacles can be overcome.
“A pavement café licence authorises a person who operates a business supplying food or drink (in or from premises) to place furniture on a public area for use by customers. This includes cafés, restaurants, pubs, retail outlets providing refreshments, takeaways, and supermarkets with a deli counter.
Many businesses throughout south Armagh or indeed the Council region would benifit from being able to utilise any such granting of a license”.
Crossmaglen Square Seating
Slieve Gullion Councillor Pete Byrne has also called for a more relaxed approach by council to local businesses in Crossmaglen.
“Following Minister Nichola Mallon's letter to Councils to relax planning around outside seating for businesses, I have been working with Senior Council officers and local publicans to allow outdoor seating for our pubs and cafe's in Crossmaglen. Pubs that have outdoor beer gardens can operate table service for drinks from July 3rd. However, many local pubs don't have the luxury of a beer garden and face customer displacement during the opening weeks of July. Outdoor space must be made available, where possible, for those businesses to open and trade.”
Cllr Byrne added "Providing seating in Crossmaglen Square which pubs and cafes can take ownership of is one measure I'm working through with Council Officers. Our businesses will need a huge amount of support through the weeks and months ahead and as a local council we must exhaust all avenues open to us to help them out. There are a number of hurdles to clear, but hopefully with a lot of good will from all sides we can get this over the line for July.”
Belfast Closing Streets (Michael Kenwood, Local Democracy Reporter)
Belfast council has agreed to appeal to Stormont to close a swathe of city centre roads to assist hospitality and retail recover from lockdown. It's not known if this is presently being considered for Newry.
Belfast City council’s Strategic Policy and Resources committee agreed to ask the Executive to close central and south central roads, in consultation with business, and with a view to closing other roads across the city. The move is designed to help businesses expand onto the pavement and give customers safety and space on the road.
The council is asking for initial closures at Donegall Place, Castle Place, Upper Church Lane at the back of Victoria Square, and the area around the junction of Brunswick Street and James Street South in the Linen Quarter.
The council is also seeking the weekend closure of Ormeau Road, as recently suggested by Ciaran Fox, Director at the Royal Society of Architects, and to further explore the weekend closure of other arterial routes throughout the city.
*Updated 24/6/2020
