Council Consultation into Pavement Licensing Policy could see businesses charged upto £500

Westmorland and Furness council opened a consultation on the 1st of April into a draft Pavement Licensing Policy that could see businesses changed upto £500 to apply for and a renewal fee of upto £350 to place table and chairs or other outdoor furniture on pavements areas or roads and places to which vehicle access is restricted or prohibited.

The consultation is open until 28 April 2025 on the councils draft Policy that introduces a permanent pavement licensing regime to replace the temporary provisions introduced during the pandemic to enable hospitality businesses to use the pavement space outside of their premises.

A business which uses or proposes to use premises for the sale of food or drink for consumption on or off the premises such as a public houses, cafes, bars, restaurants, snack bars, coffee shops, ice cream parlours, including supermarkets and entertainment venues which sell food or drink can apply for a pavement licence.

A licence permits the business to use temporary furniture placed on the highway that generally are footways restricted to pedestrians or are roads and places to which vehicle access is restricted or prohibited, to sell or serve food or drink and/or allow it to be used by people for consumption of food or drink supplied from, or in connection with the use of the premises.

The councils draft Policy retains the key features introduced during the pandemic, intended to streamline processing and reduce costs, but also incorporates some changes, the councils said are “to ensure the long-term sustainability of the model”.

The key changes include extending both the public consultation period from 7 days to 14 days, and council determination period from 7 days to 14  days.

Extend the maximum duration of pavement licences from 1 year to 2 years. The length of a licence would however be granted at the discretion of the council.

The council also plans to insert a new enforcement section providing powers to the local authority to give notice to businesses who have placed furniture on the highway without the required licence, and to remove the furniture if it continues to remain on the highway in contravention of the notice.

Along with plans to change the fee councils can charge applicants, increasing it from a set £100 to a maximum of £350 for renewals by premises which already hold a pavement licence and £500 for new applicants.

Penrith Town Council also voted to charge one Penrith Business £900 a year for using an area of the pavement in front of the Cornmarket a charge in addition to the Westmorland and Furness pavement licence charge of upto £350.

The proposed new policy and consultation survey is available here

The council is inviting comments on the proposed Pavement Licensing Policy which will be in force for 5 years from the date of implementation subject to any change in national legislation.