Bar and restaurant owners across Bristol have accused Bristol City Council of ‘not helping them to survive’ after the authority began to issue letters threatening legal proceedings against them for using pavements and roads as outdoor seating areas.
The bar owners have been calling on the council to allow them to keep using the public spaces outside their venues, but the council said its hands are tied by Government legislation. Outdoor seating areas were created on roads, parking spaces and pavements as part of the raft of emergency legislation brought in because of the Covid pandemic - as a way of allowing venues to continue to operate in the fresh air and lessen the spread of the virus.
But now with the coronavirus mitigations winding down, the outdoor seating areas that popped up on streets and pavements now need planning permission. Despite a petition with more than 4,500 signatures, months of lobbying and a council meeting back in October about the issue, the council has started sending venues letters warning them that they’ll start taking enforcement action if the seating areas aren’t cleared away.
