Cheshire East Council are further reducing the cost to smaller restaurants and cafes for an alfresco licence.
The Environment and Prosperity Committee agreed last month to reduce the fees for the second time since the Alfresco policy came into effect on July 1st 2011.
Cheshire East Council launched the system for licensing outdoor eating and drinking areas to ensure all owners of such premises comply with standards set by the Council.
The new rules were intended to ensure alfresco areas are safe and accessible and do not obstruct pedestrians, wheelchair users and people with pushchairs.
When the scheme was introduced the fee was £150 for an initial licence and £100 for annual renewals for seating up to four people and for seating more than four people the initial licence was £550 and £330 for annual renewals.
The current fee, introduced last autumn, is £100 for an initial licence and for each annual renewal for seating up to six people and for more than six seats the fees are £550 for an initial licence and £330 for renewals.
The Scrutiny Committee agreed to revise the charging regime based upon feedback received from traders which suggested that the charges can be prohibitive to business growth.
In the future new businesses will be charged less for their licence.
For those who have been operating less than 6 months the fees will be: £100 initially and £50 renewal for up to 6 seats; £200 initially and £100 renewal for 7 to 12 seats and £400 initially and £200 renewal for more than 12 seats.
For businesses which have been operating for more than 6 months the fees will be £150 initially and £100 renewal for up to 6 seats; £300 initially and £200 renewal for 7 to 12 seats and £550 initially and £330 renewal for more than 12 seats.
The Council recognises that alfresco areas are 'trade boosters', alerting the public that a business is open for trade, providing additional seating areas, an area where customers can smoke and on sunny days these areas are very popular and add to the ambience of the street scene.
The Authority says that regulation, in some form or other, is required to ensure that appropriate standards are met, both from the perspective of the highway authority and the planning authority, and the cost of any regulation must be met by those enjoying the benefit, hence the need to charge for the licence.
They also acknowledged that larger businesses enjoy a greater benefit from the facility and are more likely to operate such facilities all year round, therefore they will be charged significantly more.
However, the Labour Group on Cheshire East Council is calling for the alfresco dining charge to be scrapped. Labour say the charge is unnecessary, deals with a non-existent problem and is costly for small businesses.
Macclesfield Central Ward Councillor Janet Jackson said, "None of my Macclesfield constituents have ever complained to me about tables and chairs blocking the pavements. By contrast I have had problems with advertising A-boards, but Cheshire East Council has relaxed the restrictions on A-boards outside shops. Having tables and chairs outside the cafes creates a liveliness and buzz in the Town Centre which we should be encouraging. This new administrative burden on small businesses should be withdrawn."
Labour spokesman on Environment & Prosperity Cllr Steve Hogben added, "We should be helping local businesses not hindering them. I call on the Conservative cabinet of Cheshire East Council to scrap the alfresco dining charge completely."
What's your view on the alfresco licences, should cafes and restaurants be charged for having an outdoor seating area?
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
I don't think anything should be blocking the way of another user. A pushchair/wheelchair user or just one person walking down the road has every right to do it without being held up by chairs, tables and (more importantly) cars blocking the pavement.
Maybe lower it but don't scrap it. A person can really change their way of thinking when it's them pushing that pushchair/wheelchair that can't get by because someone else is in the way for their convenience. Until I became a wheelchair pusher these sorts of problems would never have crossed my mind.