chair

Putting tables and chairs on “the Council’s streets”

Submitted by JMB on Fri 02/Jul/2010

Right, that’s it. How do you start a political party? If anyone asks, it was the email about chairs wot did it. The “Council’s streets”? The “Council’s streets”? They’re our bloody streets.

I can see some logic in a bit of light regulation on street trading, but this is ridiculous: the Council are proposing a £55 charge if a rate-paying business wants to put a table and chair outside their property. If one looks at the minutes of the relevant meeting back in April 2010:

Nick Carter, Licensing Manager reported that informal arrangements for tables and chairs on the highway currently rested with City Development officers who were responsible for agreeing suitable arrangements so that the highway was kept clear. However, since the introduction of smoking regulations greater use is being made of outside areas leading to an increase in concerns from local communities in relation to public nuisance. It was therefore proposed to introduce a more formal scheme under the Council's Safer Bristol Licensing team which would compliment the existing activity undertaken by that team.

Funny that. Introduce one round of legislation (preventing smoking in private buildings) and suddenly you have a new problem, and an opportunity to raise more levies on taxpayers.

I think the committee got it wrong on this one, and kudos to Councillor Jenny Smith (Lab) for raising the point that some small businesses would have difficulty paying the fees. This did prompt an interesting response from an officer:

Pauline Powell, Legal Advisor, replied that the Council had other powers to deal with such an issue such as its well-being powers. She suggested that officers could ask the question in their consultation for examples of where the fees should be waived;

“Well-being” powers to allow the waiver of statutory fees and other taxes. That’s one to put in the “investigate further” pile.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Neighbourhood Partnerships Neighbourhood Partnerships <neighbourhood.partnerships@bristol.gov.uk>
Date: Fri, Jul 2, 2010 at 3:02 PM
Subject: Tables and chairs-licence.
To: neighbourhood.partnerships@bristol.gov.uk

It was agreed by the Licensing Committee on 8 April 2010  that the council would consult on proposals to introduce a scheme to regulate the placing of tables and chairs outside of bars, cafes or similar types of premises on the council’s streets.

The draft proposals recommend a city wide scheme in which applicants wishing to place tables and chairs on the highway would need to make an application to the council who would seek the views of persons who appear to be materially effected by the proposal prior to making a decision. The proposed charge for a permission will be £55 for a table and/or up to four chairs (and multiples thereof). The council is particularly interested in your views on the following matters:

  • (a) Should the scheme apply city wide?
  • (b) Whether the charges should apply to all types of premises e.g. premises licensed to supply alcohol (e.g. bars) as well as premises that do not supply alcohol (e.g. local cafes)?
  • (c) Do you have any other comments relating to these proposals?

Further information can be found at www.bristol.gov.uk/licensing. Any comments should be submitted by 29th July 2010 to nick.carter@bristol.gov.uk […]

These aren’t the thyroids you’re looking for

Submitted by JMB on Thu 18/Feb/2010

Funny thing. One day you feel slightly more knackered than usual. You shake it off, but the next day you still feel knackered. Then over the next few weeks you start forgetting things; you can’t seem to maintain concentration; finally a few months later you’re standing in front of a projector talking to a group of prospective customers when your brain just fills with fog and you end up slumped in a chair with all the productivity of a necktie wrapped round a sack of spuds.

Now a quick scan down the long list of potential diseases this could indicate – courtesy of Google Health – suggests all sorts of fascinatingly named and really unpleasant diseases that this could be. Early-onset Alzheimers sounds like the nastiest. Fortunately, after a bit of prodding by the GP, it was established that I’ve got one of the less problematic ones.

It would appear that my immune system has staged a modest industrial action and knackered my Thyroid. The down side of an underactive thyroid – Hypothyroidism - is having to take a daily dose of levothyroxine for the rest of my life, and the occasional bouts of tiredness, muscle aches and sensitivity to the cold. But, there are some pretty good points as far as illnesses goes.

  1. Having filled in my Form FP92A, I no longer have to pay for prescriptions. So they are “free” in the modern sense of the word, in that I don’t pay for them directly.
  2. If I’m ever asked to do any work around the house, I can regretfully decline on the grounds that “my hypo is playing up”. So far, the wife has bought it.
  3. I’m now getting an in-depth, up-close and personal look at the mechanics of the Department of Work and Pensions. Which is something to blog about.

So, having purchased my Pill Box with Day of the week compartments about forty years ahead of schedule, I’m now suitably medicated and vaguely inclined to start blogging again.

I’m also skint, hence you will note the large quantity of Google Advertisements displaying all manner of items for your delectation and amusement, from which I have just earned about fifty pence (which is better than a poke in the eye). I heartily endorse these events or products.

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