Outdoor table and chairs permits brings in nearly £1m for council

Revenue from outdoor table and chairs permits has brought in almost £1m for the council in the last year.

It marks an approximately £150,000 increase over last year’s figures, which came in at about £850,000.

Councillors voted in May to trial changes to the city’s table and chairs licensing process, the first since 2007.

It allows businesses to apply for “top-ups” to their 9am to 9pm permits outside the Grassmarket area, extending their licences to either or both 7.30am or 10.00pm.

Within Grassmarket, businesses are only allowed to have tables and chairs on pavements between noon and 9pm.

Council officers said 20 businesses had taken advantage of the opportunity to get an extra 90 minutes of availability in the morning.

Transport and environment convener, Labour councillor Stephen Jenkinson, said: “It seemed like the right thing to do. Businesses are starting to open earlier so that customers can enjoy coffee and what have you earlier in the morning.

“If we keep having summers like we’ve had, I think this is a service that will prove quite successful. I can only see those numbers increasing.”

He added that he thought more businesses may apply for top-up permits next year, as the trial was started just before the summer period.

Each application for a morning or evening top-up costs £150, with the normal application fee varying based on the amount of space businesses propose to use for tables and chairs.

Applications in the city’s world heritage site area cost £206 per square metre, while those outside it cost £163.

Though policies for the licences had not been changed since 2007, the prices have been updated with time.

Papers set to be seen by councillors at the transport and environment committee on September 11 put the exact income from permits in the last year at £969,000.

However, it is unclear whether this includes £18,000 in refunds given to businesses that no longer wished to use their permits.

They also said that 11 businesses were denied permits due to the size of their proposed table and chair setups.

Recent changes mean that any table and chair applications need to ensure at least 1.5 metres of footpath space is available after street furniture is put in place.

The trial was launched after requests by some businesses, which wanted to make more use of the street furniture they already owned.

A report before councillors at the May meeting said it could provide benefits to the wider community.

It said it could provide more “natural surveillance” of city streets at early and late hours, and promote more “vibrancy” in places where street furniture is present.