The use of forecourts is about to rear its ugly head again as Southwark attempts to raise revenue by cashing in on anticipated greater footfall north of the borough during the summer Olympics. This will of course impact on us south of the borough.
Some of you will remember around a year / eighteen months ago the ugly scenes when council reps visited stores and bars demanding licence applications, these reps were unaware of the council policy and what they said varied from one business to another. Many traders were left distraught and confused by the bullish behaviour and their ignorance of their own policy. We are hoping they will be politer and better informed this time.
In essence, if you do have furniture on the public highway INCLUDING A BOARDS it is very likely that you will have to pay a (increased) licence fee (to see the report click here). If you have furniture on your own privately owned land / forecourt (the vast case in and around East Dulwich) you are exempt from the license IF you have a boundary fence OR display a sign stating;
'THIS IS A PRIVATE FORECOURT FOR THE USE OF CUSTOMERS / PATRONS ONLY.'
Southwark Council would not be happy with the fence options as it will mean a reduction in the width of the pavements, however this is an option which you can consider and might give you some leverage. Also the fees appear to be levied on the size and number of items which means a small cafe busy at just lunchtimes could be paying the same as a huge SE1 bar. Typically the policy has not been thought through.
It is disturbing to us members of the business community when all the media's attention is focused on preserving and promoting small businesses to help preserve our high streets, Southwark Council is ignoring the 'Portas Protocol' and penalising the very people who make this borough such a vibrant and desirable one.
If the visiting Southwark reps are ignorant of the policy, or in any way bullish, remain calm, do nothing, take their name and contact us; we will talk to your Local Councillor, The Cabinet Member For Transport, Environment and Recycling and the Head of Public Realm's office. If the Southwark reps behave as badly as they did last time then we shall be taking the matter to the press and advising our MP, but we need incident reports so write everything down and try to get any conversations witnessed IE when they arrive make sure you have another member of staff or an obliging member of the public on hand.
If you have furniture on the highway and you want to fight this decision please email us back and we will form a group to do so. We have already had the offer of support in doing this. Contact us by email at southsouthwarktraders@yahoo.co.uk
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