Cheshire East Council (CEC) has vowed to get tough on restaurants that have built outdoor seating areas on land that belongs to the Council, without their permission.
Last year Yara built an outdoor seating area on the public highway without obtaining permission and Konak have recently done the same next door.
Neither restaurants own the area outside their premises, unlike some other restaurants in the village who are entitled to put tables and chairs outside because the pavement belongs to them.
Speaking about the new seating area outside Konak at last week's Alderley Edge Parish Council meeting, Cllr Mike Williamson said "They have been issued with 30 days notice to remove it and the 30 days is coming up quite quickly.
"They (CEC) are adamant they are going to take action which will be very pleasing if they do."
Cllr Frank Keegan commented "It is totally non-compliant with DDA".
Cllr Mike Williamson added "Hopefully it will be the first time they (CEC) do something and hopefully it will send a message."
Councillor Rod Menlove, Cabinet member in charge of the environment, said: "The owners of Konak were given 30 days notice to remove the seating area as it is considered to be an obstruction of the highway, contrary to the Highways Act 1980.
"Furthermore, they do not have planning permission and they have not applied for a licence in accordance with the Council's alfresco policy. The paved area outside these premises is public highway.
"If the seating area is not removed, the Council will arrange to remove it and recharge the cost. We have also written to Yara for the same reasons."
What do you think of the seating areas outside Konak and Yara? Should they be removed?
Share your views via the comment box below.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
DDA exists for blind and disabled people
I recently conducted a survey for Guide Dogs for the Blind
Alfresco dining and A boards are fine for sighted people
London road is like a slalom course for a blind person with a Guide Dog
In the area around The Potting shed, Konak and Yara, a blind person would have no option but to walk into the road.
However I agree that restaurants cannot and should not erect their own outdoor areas without regulation and they should have to submit plans for approval before they go ahead and build. Sadly the Konak outdoor area is somewhat ugly.
Why not get them to submit plans; approve them if attractive; and charge an additional rate for the outside area? Everyone a winner!
o decking is about customers smoking, so they have a fag and spend their money
o A3 units, including Costa, should keep their area free of fag ends
o A3 units with decking on land belonging to the Council are increasing their turnover on land owned by the Council and should pay for the privilege.
o decking should always keep a realistic part of the pavements free for pedestrians
o where decking is on land owned by the A3 operators, their customers should not also spill over on to the public footpath
The rules are there to be followed and so they should be, but lets get serious here. The alfresco areas are there to help our local businesses make money and as a by product employ local people, they pay taxes etc etc and most of us enjoy eating/drinking outside (on the rare occasions the sun shows itself). So lets see how we can encourage and help them out. And as people have mentioned, im sure our council have got much bigger things to worry about, but as normal they seem to pick on the easy wins and leave the more important issues to the side. By the way, hows the traffic looking outside konak at the moment due to the brand new bypass being shut? I dont remeber the council dealing with the electric company with so much gusto??? The trains are running to their schdule okay, but the residents of AE can not. The town is going to be an empty shell soon, with just the likes of costa coffe, charity shops and tesco despersed in between if the council dont get smart and work with local businesses instead of working against them. How much money is going to be lost this 2-3 weeks by people not going into AE because of all the extra traffic going down London Road that should be travelling down the bypass?
I agree, Konak and the like should have planning permission and something should be done. But instead of making them rip it down, can they not apply for retrospective planning permission, it seems to work for our local premirship footballers!! Or maybe alter it to suit the needs of the village. Im no planning expert, but do we really need to be tieing one hand behind the backs of our local businesses? Its hard enough for these guys already, lets see what we can do as a community to help them out. Lets not forgot the council is there to serve us, not the other way around.
Myself and Cllr Nigel Schofield met National Grid and Cheshire East to attempt to have cradles put across the by-pass.
The problem with cradles is this: when the by-pass was being planned, there was an objection from Pearson Tomato farm, and Cheshire Highways knocked the by-pass out in a kink, to give a wide berth to Pearson. The line of Pylons is fixed, and so, down the by-pass, the road kinks, the pylons are straight and at that point cradles cannot be put up - because they would be 1.3mtres from the live line and they need 6 metres.
We did give them a hard time, and we got lots of mitigation, including all the SIDS around. Speed Indicator Devices! The road planners should have taken the pylons into account at the time.
My argument is not floored at all. Check with Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. There should be a gap of a metre and a half (appproximately 5ft.) between any obstruction and the curb. This is so that a blind person with a Guide Dog can pass safely. It is not about "clear pavement". It is about safety! All the "A" boards and alfresco dining areas make Alderley Edge into a slalom course for a blind person. Never mind all the fag ends and litter/food on the floor which are a huge distraction to any dogs.
One assumes that the people putting out tables and chairs without planning permission are just following the Council's example with the Lyme Green waste transfer scheme. If you want to do it and you think you can get away with it, just do it. At least these coffee shops and restaurants are not costing council taxpayers £810,000 in an arrogant, aborted, illegal act, nor are they paid vast amounts of money to serve and protect the residents of Cheshire East.
Clearly, obstructing some pavement areas may be dangerous and improper and should be stopped. But let's not lose sight of the bigger picture in Cheshire East please. Check out Stuart Redgard's post (on one of Lisa Reeve's other excellent sites) about how you can complain to the Audit Commissioner for Cheshire East about the waste transfer matter which, it seems may cost much, much more than the current £810,000 of YOUR money!. http://www.wilmslow.co.uk/news/article/6480/aborted-recycling-centre-costs-taxpayers-800000
I have not made this up, it is the law for a good reason. Try doing a blindfold walk yourself and maybe you would appreciate why this law is upheld.