Byron Seeking To Take Over More Pavement Space
Move could leave insufficient room for proposed cycleway
Byron restaurant Chiswick High Road. Picture: Google Streetview
Byron, the hamburger chain, have made a planning application to Hounslow Council to extend the amount of pavement space they use outside their Chiswick High Road restaurant.
They are proposing to extend the existing external seating area to provide space for six additional chairs and three more tables. This would mean up to 1.2m of pavement space would be taken up by the restaurant leaving around 5 metres width of pavement space although this is partly taken up by street furniture and a tree.
The proposed Cycleway 9 would be taking up much of the remaining pavement space at this point and it is not clear if the current plan would remain viable if permission was granted to Byron.
In the application Byron say that the furthest expansion will be the north-western corner, extending halfway across the northern boundary of the area, before moving gradually down towards the existing north-eastern corner.
The seating area will be bounded by planters and windbreaks and they say that these constitute a ‘means of enclosure’ and as such benefit from Permitted Development.
Their application states, “The small increase in size will not compromise the wide character of the pavement and will clearly relate solely to the host restaurant.
“The minor nature of the proposal poses minimal material impact to the character of the Chiswick High Road Conservation Area.”
They say in the absence of requirements outlined in local policy, ‘Manual for Streets’, a document published by the Government’s Department for Transport, suggests that 1.5m of pavement is considered acceptable to ensure adequate and safe thoroughfare for pedestrians. Furthermore, the claim the boundary slopes down towards the north-eastern corner of the area, nearest to the crossing at Linden Gardens, thus allowing the safe gathering of pedestrians when crossing the street.
A spokesperson for the Hounslow Cycling Campaign said, "It will be interesting to see if Cllr Biddolph applies her 'not an inch of pavement space' position to this application from a commercial venture owned by private equity business Three Hills Capital Partners."
Cllr Biddolph responded, "I do not want to lose one inch of pavement space to CS9 because our shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants need that space to attract customers. Outdoor tables and chairs help to do that. As long as the rules are applied fairly, the ownership of the business is irrelevant."
The planning reference for the application which was made on 15 July is P/2019/2596 00248/227-229/P12.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
July 24, 2019
