Application Forms

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Application Process 

The application must include:

• Letter confirming interest in applying for a licence
• Relevant fee
• Location and site layout plan
• Description of furniture appearance (photo, manufacturer's brochure, sketch)
• State the quantity of tables and chairs to be sited
• Copy of public liability insurance (minimum five million pounds)
• Risk assessment
• Details of where furniture will be kept when not on site

This should be sent to:

Operational Manager Highways and Engineering,

Highways and Engineering Division

Vale of Glamorgan Council

The Alps

Quarry Road

Wenvoe

CF5 6AA

A 28 day consultation period will be carried out for each application.

A public notice will need to be placed on the site.

The licence is renewable every three years.

Tacit Consent

No. It is in the public interest that the authority must process your application before it can be granted. If you have not heard from the local authority within a reasonable period, please contact us.

The target time period is 84 calendar days.

Background and Eligibility Criteria

The aim is to balance the needs of businesses and residents with the public expectation of an unobstructed footway.

The permit is for tables, chairs or other furniture to be placed on publicly maintained highways.

Permission is not given by the Vale of Glamorgan Council for privately maintained highways.

The Council also has a responsibility to ensure that any highway is in a safe condition for use by members of the public. This duty includes the need to maintain adequate widths for pedestrians and safety margins adjacent to any carriageway for instance.

The Council also needs to maintain its highways and there is therefore always a requirement to suspend any permission to allow maintenance works to be undertaken. The suspension of permission would be kept to an absolute minimum, taking account of operational requirements.

Conditions

Condition of the permission is a requirement for the licensee to indemnify the Council against all losses and claims arising from the use of tables, chairs or other furniture on the highway.

The Council must satisfy itself that the licensee has insurance cover. The Council can request that the document is produced at any time during the period of the permission.

Fees

The current fee for this permission is £367.00

Supplementary Information

The Council cannot grant permission until a notice has been published:

• by affixing notices in a conspicuous position at or near the point to which the proposal relates
• by serving a copy of the notice on owners and occupiers of any premises appearing to the Council to be materially affected

Consultation / Representations

Permission cannot be granted until at least 28 days after the notices are posted and then only if no representations are made. If representations are made then the matter will be considered by the relevant Committee Members.

The Council will consult with:

• Police
• Highway Department
• Environmental Health
• Local Councillors
• Town Council
• The Leader
• Local Members for Leisure and Tourism

Pedestrian Areas

Where it is proposed to grant permission for tables, chairs or other furniture on highways from which vehicular traffic is excluded by means of a Traffic Regulation Order (i.e. pedestrian areas) the permission would normally be operative when vehicles are excluded, by the legal order. This would be on road safety grounds. Usually tables, chairs or other furniture can be used on wide footways, but adequate pedestrian routes and clearances next to the carriageway must be maintained.

Offences and Penalties

It is an offence contrary to section 149 of the Highways Act (1980) to deposit anything on the highway that is considered to be a nuisance without permission from the Highway Authority.

Any persons that do so are liable to prosecution.

Complaint and Other Redress

•  Failed Application Redress

  Please contact the Licensing Team in the first instance:

   

  Tel: 01446 709105

  Email: licensing@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk

   

  Any person aggrieved by a refusal to be granted a licence may appeal to the Magistrates Courts who may give such directions regarding the licence or its conditions as it thinks proper.

•  Licence Holder Redress
  Please contact the Licensing Team in the first instance:

   

  Tel: 01446 709105

  Email: licensing@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk

   

  Any person aggrieved by any conditions to which a licence is subject may appeal to the Magistrates Courts who may give such directions regarding the licence or its conditions as it thinks proper.

•  Consumer Complaint
  We would always advise that in the event of a complaint the first contact is made with the trader by you, preferably in the form of a letter with proof of delivery. 

   

  If that has not worked and you are located in the UK Consumer Direct will be able to give you advice.    

   

  If you have a complaint from across Europe contact the UK European Consumer Centre.