HARD-PRESSED businesses struggling in the recession have been handed a second boost by council bosses – with the scrapping of a proposed “pavement tax” on cafe owners.
Anger erupted when Northumberland County Council announced plans to introduce a one-off licence fee of £350 – followed by a £200 annual charge – for traders who wanted to operate pavement cafes outside their premises.
Letters were sent out in 2010 to cafe and restaurant owners in towns such as Alnwick, Morpeth and Hexham requiring the fees to be paid for the right to put tables and chairs for customers on the pavements.
The move was branded “a tax on tourism”, and last year the council’s economic development scrutiny committee rejected the plan – and told the Liberal Democrat executive to go away and re-write it.
Now the proposed charges have been dropped, to be replaced with a set of guidelines on the safe and legal operation of pavement cafes across the county.
The climb-down follows hard on the heels of a county council U-turn on tough enforcement action against unauthorised roadside advertising signs put up by rural businesses.
The authority is to take a more positive and supportive approach to such signs.
Yesterday Alnwick councillor Gordon Castle, who chairs the scrutiny committee, said the pavement cafe re-think was warmly welcomed.
“Following on from the policy review on advertising signs, this is clear evidence that the council is at last realising that, if we are going to create jobs in the private sector, we have to stop over-burdening businesses with unnecessary taxes and regulations.
“These charges would have been a further tax on business and were more about protecting jobs in the licensing department at County Hall. As a committee we saw this proposal last year in the same form as we had rejected it in the year previously. We made it quite clear that it was unacceptable, and was a case of scrutiny doing its job well.
“The council has a responsibility to ensure that pavements are not obstructed unduly, but there are already powers to deal with this.”
Alnwick cafe owner Tommy McKie, who runs Copperfields on Market Street and The Lunchbox in the Market Place, said: “I think this decision shows a bit of common sense and helps keep the pressure off traders. We are paying enough in rates and everything else without facing this extra tax, and I believe this decision is right.
“The council has realised that everyone is struggling in the present climate and I welcome that. This could have cost me hundreds of pounds a year, which I would have to pass on to customers.”
The new guidelines give cafe and other shop owners guidance on how they can place tables, chairs and items such as flowers and household goods outside their premises – while still meeting their legal obligations to keep the public highway clear of obstructions. But there will now be no requirement to get a pavement cafe licence.
The council’s head of sustainable transport, Mike Scott, said: “We have introduced a more user-friendly, flexible approach which is a better way of ensuring good quality pavement cafes and avoiding obstruction of the public highway. The new guidelines set out clearly what we require from cafe owners and the advice and support that is available from council officers.”
