GOING AL FRESCO
Originally, it was planned that pub gardens and outside areas would be allowed to open first. To assist with this, the Government included provisions in the Business and Planning Bill (introduced 25 June) to speed up the procedure for obtaining licences to have removable tables, chairs and similar furniture on the public pavement. I specify public because you do not need a table and chairs licence for private land. A fee is still payable and there will be a seven day public consultation period. The act is expected to become law before the end of July. Although perhaps not now as important as before, it will still contribute towards pubs and restaurants re-establishing themselves after ‘lockdown’.
CAMRA supported the measure, with national chairman Nik Antona, saying, “Pub goers and beer and cider drinkers will welcome this announcement which will help make sure pubs, when they reopen, can survive and thrive by making the most of outdoor space for extra al-fresco seating. This will make a huge difference to the viability of our well-loved community pubs which are a vital part of our social fabric, helping to tackle loneliness and social isolation. CAMRA will be working to make sure pub goers using outdoor seating at our locals do so safely, responsibly and considerately. We are also calling on all local councils to make sure applications to use outside space are dealt with quickly and don’t come with a huge price tag in terms of application fees. We are also urging the Government to make sure a second wave of financial support is available, especially for pubs that can’t reopen or that will be operating at a massively reduced trade because they don’t have any suitable outside space they can use.”
Even for tables and chairs on private land you would normally need to have a premises licence which includes off-sales. The Business and Planning Bill however also includes provisions to vary the licensing laws to extend all licences to include off sales. This was originally to allow pubs to sell takeaway beer but it should also cover any extra tables. The alternative would have been to apply for a variation of licence or use Temporary Event Notices. These changes will apply only in England and Wales.
At one point, there was talk of streets being temporarily closed and pavements widened to make room for extra tables. On 17 June, Westminster City Council, given the significance of the hospitality industry to the West End, published a full strategy paper on reopening both pubs and restaurants, saying, “This will create the space needed for restaurants, cafes and similar businesses to put tables and chairs outside. Roads will be closed using ‘soft’ measures which can be installed and removed at the beginning and end of each timed period such as barriers and cones.” The venues concerned would still have to apply for the appropriate licence, although the Council promised that temporary licences (for up to three months) would be processed within five days so long as the applicant met the Council’s requirements.
Westminster Council did however make it clear that ‘vertical drinking’ (people standing and drinking) outside venues would not be permitted in any circumstances, even where it had previously been the practice. The reason given for this was that it would be a ‘contravention of the government guidance on social distancing and could cause significant harm to local residential amenity’.
Not all councils adopted the same attitude. At the end of May CAMRA sent a letter to all council chief executives asking them to take ‘a flexible and pragmatic approach’ and CAMRA branches will be following up on this.
FUMING
Also in May, in anticipation of the reopening of pub gardens and open areas, there was a proposal from the MP for The Wrekin (Shropshire) that regulations be changed to split gardens etc into smoking and non-smoking areas. As reported in the Morning Advertiser, Mark Pritchard told his local newspaper, the Shropshire Star, “This is about non-smoking customers being able to sit outside cafés and pubs without having to run the gauntlet of secondary smoke from smokers, especially the elderly and families with young children. Why should non-smokers be forced to breathe in other people’s smoke because Covid-19 forces more people to eat outside?” The proposal received little support from the trade, but was being revived as we went to press.
NEW PLANNING REGULATIONS
Tables and chairs are by no means the main thrust of the Business and Planning Bill. It is described as ‘a bill to make provision relating to the promotion of economic recovery and growth’. In particular, it will make it possible to change the use of properties in certain planning classes, especially in town centres, without the need for planning permission. This includes allowing both unused commercial and existing residential properties to be demolished so long as they are rebuilt as dwellings. The intention is to make better use of ‘brownfield’ sites and to revive high streets by utilising vacant sites.
Happily, the rules that currently apply to pubs, libraries, village shops and other amenities, which the Government describes as the ‘lifeblood of communities’, will not change. In theory, it should mean that it will be that much easier to open a micropub or brewery but it also means that, given developments mentioned elsewhere, the temptation to close large brewery sites for redevelopment might be increased. The changes are scheduled to come into effect in September.
STAY ALERT
Finally, I don’t like to be negative but inevitably the COVID-19 crisis will put some pubs out of business and also certain pub owning businesses will take the opportunity to do some selling. To quote the Prime Minister, ‘stay alert’. As I say above, a pub remains a pub until a full planning application procedure says otherwise. Developers don’t however always follow the rules. If you think anything untoward is happening to a pub that you know, tell your CAMRA branch contact or report it through WhatPub. If the current owners cannot or will not run the pub, it is always possible that someone else will.
Tony Hedger