The Lowdown: a return to pre-pandemic planning laws

This is not exactly what the sector needs right now…​
With food price inflation and energy costs continuing to spiral, restaurateurs need every penny they can to keep the wolf from the door, so suddenly seeing a major part of their revenue stream disappear is very bad news.

Where has this been happening?​
The most prominent and high-profile example is in London, specifically at Sam’s Riverside restaurant in Hammersmith, which has recently been forced to remove a marquee from its outside terrace​​. The restaurant erected the structure after the Government temporarily eased regulations to allow the hospitality trade to serve food outdoors during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, Hammersmith and Fulham Council rejected a request to renew the temporary approval for a further year in November, following several complaints from locals about noise. As a result, owner Sam Harrison has now had to tear down the structure.

What has the impact been on the restaurant’s business?​
Harrison has been waging an extensive media campaign in recent weeks to try and get the decision overturned, which has included interviews in national newspapers as well as on TV and radio. According to the restaurateur, the loss of the marquee is costing Sam’s Riverside up to £15,000 of trade per week. Some 50 Christmas bookings of various sizes, which had requested to use the space, have been cancelled; and he’s had to stop rostering four members of staff.

How has the council responded?​
In a lengthy statement posted to its website last week, Hammersmith and Fulham Council pushed back against Harrison and said it had been in talks with him about the issue but had been unable to find a solution. “We are dismayed there has been so much misrepresentation about this case,” the council said. “While Hammersmith and Fulham is very sympathetic to the challenges faced by Sam’s Riverside, we cannot breach planning regulations because he has chosen to run a media campaign.” Curiously, it has been revealed that Harrison is still allowed to serve customers on the patio without the marquee, but the restaurateur has said, quite understandably, that it is not plausible to seat customers outside during the cold winter months.

Is this indicative of a more wide-spread problem for restaurants looking to renew planning permission for Covid-era outdoor structures?​
It certainly appears to be. In Lyme Regis, chef Mark Hix has become embroiled in a heated row with local council officials who have opposed his plans for an outside decked eating area attached to his Oyster and Fish House to be made permanent. Like Harrison, Hix erected the structure during the pandemic and warns that its removal will have a significant financial impact on his business. In response he’s branded Lyme Regis Town Council as being ‘anti-business’ and threatened to withdraw his charitable support for the seaside town, pulling out of the annual food festivals and fundraising events he hosts, which he says have raised ‘hundreds of thousands of pounds’ for the local RNLI and boosted tourism.

Are there any ways restaurants can work with councils to try and meet each other halfway?​
Potentially. The BBC​ reports that Hix is due to sit down with town planners in the coming days to try and defuse the situation. Cheryl Reynolds, the deputy mayor of Lyme Regis, has rejected criticism the council was ‘anti-business’, citing grants and one-off £100 fees for outside seating areas. But she acknowledged there was division about the decking among the town's 14 councillors and said it was important to find common ground between both parties. “It certainly has been time-consuming, so the meeting next week will be essential, and the council needs to resolve this early next year,” she said. According to the town council, Hix has since withdrawn his application to make the structure permanent, and it is understood a new application is being drawn up.

What wider changes are needed to help support hospitality with these sorts of issues?​
Harrison notes that what’s crucial is that councils have a greater understanding of the struggles currently being faced by businesses within the sector. Speaking on LBC earlier this week, he said: “There needs to be a cultural change. Post-pandemic and post Brexit we’re trading in a very different world. Councils have to work with businesses. And of course, residents have to be listened to, but this is city living; this is the greatest city in the world, and we’re talking about trading until 10 o’clock at night.”