Belfast City Council is now operating a permanent pavement caf\u00e9 licensing scheme for local hospitality and retail businesses wanting to place furniture on a public area outside their premises for use by their customers.<\/p>\n
A temporary scheme had been introduced In June 2020 during the recovery period following the Covid-19 lockdown.<\/p>\n
Council carried out a public consultation last October and November on the change to a permanent scheme receiving feedback from existing licensees, local business community, groups representing people with a disability and the general public.<\/p>\n
The permanent scheme is now operational with a transition and implementation period up to the end of April 2024.<\/p>\n
The permanent scheme is similar to the temporary one, but fees have been introduced and standard licence conditions have been revised.<\/p>\n
Councillor Gary McKeown, Chair of the council\u2019s Licensing Committee, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cPavement caf\u00e9s have an important role to play in our city and bring a real buzz to our streets, so we want to ensure that this will continue in a permanent and sustainable way that can deliver for residents and visitors, as well as hospitality businesses.<\/em><\/p>\n “We want our city to be as welcoming and enjoyable as possible, and enabling pavement caf\u00e9s to operate is part of this.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe opened our public consultation and online survey in early October and have received useful feedback from the public, existing licensees, the local business community, and groups representing people with a disability and older people.<\/em><\/p>\n