We need an agreement between residents, businesses and the council that works for everyone.” “We don’t allow our customers to get drunk or make excessive noise. “I have a great relationship with my neighbours,” said Henshaw.
Alfresco is going to be an important part of our recovery,” said Taylor.īusinesses say they are sympathetic to residents. All of us are going to have to start paying back rent that wasn’t paid in the last 17 months. “It will take us a long time to get back to normal. In Soho, hospitality business owners want licensing for outdoor seating to continue beyond the end of September. “For example, central Newcastle has totally transformed the nature of the public space by turning it over to outdoor seating, and that’s brought life and vibrancy back to the city centre, which would otherwise have been missing.” It has saved jobs, saved businesses and saved many of our city centres. “It’s hard to overestimate the importance that the deregulation of outside seating has had for the industry. So it remains important.”Īlfresco dining has rejuvenated city and town centres, said Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality. Even now restrictions have been lifted, there is a strong cohort of people who aren’t comfortable about being inside. “We had no outdoor space, so being able to put tables on the pavement was life-saving. Gary Henshaw, who owns the Ku Bar group of gay bars in Soho, said outdoor seating had been “absolutely hugely important” to his business’s survival. Suddenly, there was a place to come, even in a pandemic – and it had a wonderful vibe.” “Alfresco dining was and is a complete life-saver,” said David Taylor, who owns the Balans restaurants in Soho. Tim Lord of the Soho Society said there had been no consultation with residents about the new outdoor seating. Licences were due to expire on 30 September, but the government has confirmed an extension for another 12 months and possibly permanently. Liverpool has received almost 350 licence applications over the past year, and Newcastle upon Tyne more than 100. Westminster city council, which covers Soho, said it created more than 16,000 new outdoor seats for the hospitality sector and closed some roads to facilitate alfresco dining.
In the year to June 2021, more than 3,300 fast track applications for outdoor seating were made by restaurants, cafes and bars in England, according to a study by PwC. Pavement licences were introduced by the government in July last year to help hospitality businesses boost customer numbers while social distancing restricted indoor seating. We have to wash it away with buckets of water.” “I scream at them and threaten to call the police but it’s too late. On many occasions she has seen or heard “drunk men” urinating outside her living room windows. “People are singing at the top of their lungs, and some use my terrace as a lavatory,” she said.
Outdoor gay bar london windows#
Samar Zia, who has lived in social housing in Soho since 2016 with her husband and two children, keeps her windows closed some evenings because of noise. People who have lived there for decades are considering leaving, according to the Soho Society.
In Soho, the centre of London’s nightlife, residents say alfresco dining and drinking has disrupted access and created intolerable noise.