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Street cafes

A licence is required if a café is to cover any part of the highway (e.g. footway and most pedestrianised areas). It is best to contact the Hertfordshire Highways office for your area to discuss the details before a formal application is made.

A successful application is dependent on a number of factors such as:

• Proximity to the road
• Regard to the disabled
• Litter facilities

The applicant will need to provide the following:

• size of area (m);
• number of tables, chairs, umbrellas etc;
• details of furniture to be used (i.e. type, colour, material);
• proposed days/hours of operation;
• a plan on which the positions of the proposed structures are marked;
• names of any person(s) residing above and to the side of the proposed location;
• indemnity and insurance details

The County Council will notify all “frontagers with an interest” – a person whose land adjoins the part of highway affected and where the object or structure is to be placed between his land and the centre of the highway. This includes an occupier of any residential flat over shop premises.

Also notified, are persons required to give “walkway consent” - where the highway involved is a walkway. This includes:

• any person who is an occupier of a building in which the walkway subsists;
• any person whose consent would have been required for the creation of the walkway if it did not already exist;
• any person who is an owner or occupier of premises adjoining the walkway;
• the owner of the land on, under or above which the walkway subsists.

The County Council will consult a number of local agencies including the Police, District Council, Fire and Rescue Dept as well as the County Planners if they have been involved in a Town Scheme for the area.

If the licence is granted, it is recommended that the applicant display a copy of it in a prominent position outside the premises in question.