Pavement licence applications and consultations

1. The Licence Holder shall ensure that no activity undertaken by them by the placing of furniture on the highway will:

• (a) Prevent traffic, other than vehicular traffic, from:
  (i) entering the relevant highway at a place where such traffic could otherwise enter it (ignoring any pedestrian planning order or traffic order made in relation to the highway),
  (ii) passing along the relevant highway, or
  (iii) having normal access to premises adjoining the relevant highway,
• (b) Prevent any use of vehicles which is permitted by a pedestrian planning order or which is not prohibited by a traffic order,
• (c) Prevent statutory undertakers having access to any apparatus of theirs under, in, on or over the highway, or
• (d) Prevent the operator of an electronic communications code network having access to any electronic communications apparatus kept installed for the purposes of that network under, in, on or over the highway.

2. The licence holder must ensure clear routes of access are maintained, taking into account the needs of disabled people and the recommended minimum footway widths and distances required for access by mobility impaired and visually impaired people as set out in the Department for Transport’s “Inclusive Mobility” document in force at the time this licence is granted, and the licence is granted subject to those requirements.

3. The licence holder must make reasonable provision for seating where smoking is not permitted.

4. The Licence Holder must ensure that all persons using the defined area remain seated at all times save for the purposes of entering and exiting the area. No person should be allowed to remain standing whilst consuming food and/or drink in the area. For the avoidance of doubt, no food and/or drink shall be served to any person unless they are seated in the defined area.

5. The Licence Holder shall comply with all requirements of the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic at all times whilst licensed, and will abide by any requirements stipulated by the government and/or the council in this regard. This shall include, but is not restricted to, ensuring social distancing is observed, and track and trace details of customers and visitors to the facility are taken and kept for the required 21 day period.

6. Furniture placed on the pavement after the granting of a licence must be in accordance with the details and plans provided at the time of the application. No changes are permitted without prior approval from the Council.

7. All furniture shall be kept in a clean, safe and well maintained condition. Any canopies, umbrellas and heaters must be adequately secured.

8. The licence holder must not place any furniture in the licensed area more than 30 minutes before the hours as specified on this licence, and must remove all furniture either at the end of the trading day, or within 30 minutes of the end of the hours as specified on this licence, whichever is the earliest. When not in use, all furniture must be stored securely inside a premises away from the highway. Where applicable a pavement licence shall not be issued for hours that exceed those permitted by the premises licence issued under the Licensing Act 2003.

9. If the furniture is (a) not removed outside the permitted hours, unless otherwise agreed in writing with Peterborough City Council or (b) located in breach of the licence conditions or other regulatory requirements, the Highway Authority may remove and store or dispose furniture, at the cost of the licence holder and with no responsibility for safekeeping.

10. The premises must not place A-boards or any other form of advertising or signage on the highway outside of the licensed area.

11. All furniture authorised by the licence must be removed by time stipulated in licence, or on the day any revocation notice is served. The Council reserves the legal right to recover costs of any furniture removal from the licence holder.

12. For the duration of the licence, the Licensee shall maintain a public liability insurance policy up to the value of £5 million pounds against any liability, loss or damage, claim or proceeding whatsoever arising under Statute or Common law in respect of the placing and maintaining of the tables and chairs on the highway or their removal there from.

13. The Licensee shall be responsible for keeping the designated area in a clean and tidy condition at all times, and will ensure that the area covered by the licence is left clean and tidy once the furniture is removed at the end of the trading day.

14. Any waste produced by the business will be handled safely, and disposed of in accordance with the law.

15. The Licence Holder must comply with any request to allow highway maintenance and any other necessary remedial work to be carried out at the location covered by the licence. The Licence Holder must also comply with any request to remove the furniture due to an emergency situation, special or unforeseen event. A reasonable period of notice will be given to the licensee where possible. The Highways Authority and/or Peterborough City Council will not be liable for any loss of earnings arising out of the loss of use of a licence whilst complying with any such request. 

16. No furniture other than that stipulated on the application is permitted to be used. Any replacement furniture must be like for like. Where this is not possible, approval from the Council must be sought prior to the installation of replacement furniture.

17. No form of entertainment (incl. background music) is permitted in the licensed area, this includes the placing of speakers or any other equipment for the amplification of sound.

18. Peterborough City Council reserve the right to restrict the use of glass in the licensed area. This may mean a complete restriction and or limiting use to specific times of the day.

19. The licence holder must ensure that the area covered by the licence is monitored regularly by staff to ensure compliance with the licence conditions and to ensure that the area operates in a safe and orderly manner to reduce the risk of nuisance.

20. The licence holder shall not allow their customers to cause any form of nuisance or annoyance to: Any other users of the highway; Any neighbouring residents, or Any neighbouring businesses.

21. During hours of use, the licence holder or a nominated representative must be available to receive and respond to complaints. Keep a record of complaints received, to be available to Council officers on request, and action taken as a result of them.

22. During the hours of darkness, suitable and sufficient lighting must be provided to ensure safe use of the area. Any proposals to provide additional lighting to the licensed area must be approved in writing by the Council.

23. When the licensed area is in use, the licence holder must make toilets and handwashing facilities available for customers, including to wheelchair accessible standards where it is practicable and reasonable to do so.

24. The licence holder shall ensure that disabled persons and wheelchair users can be adequately and safely served.

25. Only alcohol purchased from the connected premises may be consumed within the licensed area. Consumption of alcohol by children is restricted in the licenced pavement area as if it were part of the licenced premises area. Staff must monitor the area to unsure underage consumption of alcohol does not take place

26. The front page of the licence and Annex 1 plan must be prominently displayed on the premises so that it may be easily viewed.

27. The licensee is responsible for carrying out the reinstatement of the highway in the event of any damage to the highway occurring as a result of the activity (if requested to do so by the Highway Authority). The permanent surface reinstatement shall be carried out to the satisfaction of the Highways Authority.

28. The licence is not transferable.

29. These conditions may be varied where appropriate to reflect any changes in local areas and will come into effect upon written notification by the Council.

30. The Licence Holder shall ensure that the footway is not obstructed by patrons waiting to be seated, or by any other items of furniture or personal possessions of patrons.

31. The council reserves the right to revoke this licence at any time if there is a failure to comply with any of the above conditions.

If the site is deemed unsuitable for a pavement licence, or if relevant representations are made which cannot be mitigated by conditions, then the application may be refused. There is no statutory appeal process against a decision to refuse an application. A business may apply again after refusal but will have to make a new application and address the concerns raised in the original application. 

Obstruction of the Highway is an offence under The Highways Act 1980 and is enforced by Highways or the Police.  

Obtaining a licence does not confer the holder to immunity regarding other legislation that may apply, e.g. Public Liability, Health & Safety at Work, Food Hygiene and Safety and Alcohol and Entertainment Licensing. An application must ensure permissions are in place before applying. 

If a condition-imposed of a licence either by the council or via a National Condition is breached the Council will be able to issue a Notice requiring the breach to be remedied and the Council can take action to cover costs.  

The Council can give notice to businesses that have place furniture on the relevant highway without the required licence. If furniture continues to be placed on the highways in contravention of the notice the Council may remove and store the furniture, recover the costs from the business for removal and storage of the furniture and refuse to return the furniture until those costs have been paid. If within three months of the notice being served the costs are not paid the authority can dispose of the furniture by sale or other means and retain the proceeds.  

The Council can amend a licence in certain circumstances with the holder’s consent. 

The Council may revoke a licence in the following circumstances:

• For a breach of condition (whether a remediation noticed has been issued)
• There are risks to public health or safety – layout changes, including misuse of barriers
• The highway is being obstructed (other than anything permitted by the licence) 
• There is anti-social behaviour or public nuisance - for example the use is increasing the amount of noise generated late at night and litter is not being cleaned up
• It comes to light that the applicant provided false or misleading statements in their application – for example they are operating a stall selling hot food they had not applied for
• The application did not comply with the requirement to affix the notice to notify the public for the relevant period

The council may also revoke the licence where all or any part of the area of the relevant highway to which the licence relates has become unsuitable for any purposes for which the licence was granted or deemed to be granted. For example, the licensed area (or road adjacent) is no longer suitable. The Council will give reasons where these powers are to be used. 

Any requests for revocation will be raised by the officers and determined in consultation with the chair of Licensing Sub-Committee and Head of Safer Communities.

Accessible text summary of O’Neills’ proposal for tables and chairs outside its premises.

The seating area will be 15m wide and come out 2m from the O’Neills building. The furthest edge of the seating area will be 2.5m from the taxi rank. The entrance to the seating area will be directly opposite O’Neills’ front entrance and be 2.5m wide. Facing O’Neills from the front, there will be 4 x four seater tables on the right hand side of the door and 3 x four seater tables on the left hand side of the door. There will be posts and barriers around the perimeter of the licensed seating area.

The outside seating area spans the full width of the restaurant at 8.10m. The seating area comes out 3.7m from the front of the building onto the pavement. The seating area features 16 covers, laid out as four tables with four seats at each.

The following premises in Peterborough have approved pavement licences until 30 September 2026:

• Argo Lounge
• The Bean Around Café
• Bijou Restaurant
• Blind Tiger (ZT Logistics)
• Bottle and Board Ltd
• Caffe Nero (Nero Holdings Ltd)
• Chaat and Chill restaurant
• Cote Brasserie
• Embassy (Stonegate Pub Company)
• Five Guys
• Franco Manca
• Kaspa's Desserts
• Kokoro
• Las Iguanas
• Middletons Steakhouse
• Nandos
• Nata Papa
• O'Neills
• Palmerston Arms
• Parrotts fish and chips
• Pizza Express
• Queen's Head
• Starbucks
• Tap and Tandoori
• The Bumble Inn
• The Coffee House
• The Dice Box
• The Stoneworks Bar
• Tipsy Cow bar
• Turtle Bay
• Wagamama
• Wingstop