Apply for a pavement licence
To apply for a pavement licence you need to download and complete the application form.
You can email your completed application form to our Licensing Team. You must also send us:
- a scale plan, clearly showing the exact area the tables and chairs will occupy, dimensions of all furniture and dimensions of the proposed area in relation to the highway
- a copy of your public liability insurance which has to be over £5 million
- other supporting documents, including photographs of the furniture you are buying, pictures of any barriers with logos etc.
- a copy of the public notice you have put up, and a photograph of it in place
Once you have emailed your application and supporting documents, you can pay your application fee of £100 by phone to our Licensing team.
On the day you send us your application, you will also need to display a public notice in a prominent position on your business next to the highway.
Timescales
Once we receive your application, we will:
- validate and acknowledge your application within one working day
- advertise your application on our website
- allow people to make representations or objections to the application
We will also send a formal consultation and ask for comments from:
- Essex County Council Highways
- Essex Police
- Essex Fire and Rescue Service
- our Planning, Economic Development and Environmental Health teams
- our own Town Centre and Public Realm Manager
- appropriate District Ward Councillors
- appropriate town and Parish Councils
If we don't receive any comments or objections, we will grant the Pavement licence, subject to our standard conditions and any other conditions that are felt necessary to be included.
If we receive any comments or objections, we will consider them and either:
- grant your Pavement licence
- add further conditions and grant your Pavement licence
- refuse your application
Approval
If we grant your Pavement licence, we will monitor your café or restaurant, to make sure you are complying with the terms of the licence.
Your Pavement licence will be valid for the dates shown on it.
If we do not make a decision about your application within 28 days, your Pavement licence will be deemed granted. It will still be subject to the standard conditions.
If 'deemed granted', your licence will be valid for two years, starting from the first day after the 28-day application period.
Enforcement
In cases where furniture which would normally be permitted by a Pavement Licence has been placed on a relevant highway without a licence, the Council can give notice requiring the business to remove the furniture before a date specified and to refrain from putting furniture on the highway unless they gain a licence.
If furniture continues to be placed on the highway without a licence, the Council may remove and store the furniture, recover the costs from the business for the removal and storage of the furniture and refuse to return the furniture until those costs have been paid. If within 3 months of the notice, the costs are not paid, the Council can dispose of the furniture by sale or other means and retain the proceeds.
