'Save Our Seats' campaign fights BCC anti-hospitality policy

'Save Our Seats' campaign fights BCC anti-hospitality policy

Posted on: 08 May 2023

With Bristol City Council waging war against outdoor seating, the ‘Save Our Seats’ campaign is asking the public to help protect struggling hospitality venues.

 

SIGN THE PETITION HERE

 

After a protracted battle to stop the council from withdrawing outdoor seating licences issued throughout the pandemic (see here for more info), the Bristol City Council’s Highways division have started phase two of their plan – mandating that all furniture must be removed from the street each night at 11 PM, regardless of closing time.

This policy could prove to be highly destructive for beloved hospitality venues – in an example case, The Mother’s Ruin of St Nicholas St stands to lose out on a projected £600,000 in trade without their outdoor seating, which could lead to up to ten redundancies across the staff.

 

According to the council, the policy is due to the National Business Planning Act 2020 – but campaigners claim the act neither mandates a curfew, nor stipulates the necessity of one, having consulted a solicitor, who has confirmed this.

 

The other concerning consequence is a phenomenon known as ‘vertical drinking’ – exemplified in Lancashire police’s campaign against it, ‘vertical drinking’ describes the effects of drinkers standing up – they drink more quickly, making them more likely to binge drink, have fewer opportunities to eat food, and the chance of physical altercations rise sharply with limited space and more likelihood of jostling drinks.

St Nicholas St alone could have over 200 drinkers moved to vertical drinking as early as 10:30 PM under the new policy, with King Street bringing the number to over 1000 drinkers – and that’s two streets in a citywide policy.

 

Brendan Murphy, Director of BARBI, the British Association of Bars, Restaurants and Independents, commented:

 

"Bristol City Council continue to make life difficult for independent venues across the city. I’m not sure who comes up with their policies but perhaps a week of work experience in a bar or restaurant would give them some real-life experience and understand how their actions are causing issues. It seems they make their own rules up and simply don’t care about the hospitality industry that employs 35,000 people in the city. If the agenda is to turn Bristol into a soulless city of chains and multinationals they are going the right way about it. We're disappointed with them, as we have been for several years."

 

With venues still feeling the lasting effects of lockdown & the pandemic, whilst dealing with a cost of living & energy crisis at the same time, we’ve seen venue after venue folding – with campaigners questioning if now is really the time to squeeze venues further and push more people into unemployment.

 

Save Our Seats have a petition, which you can sign here – with 4500 signatures, BCC are bound to discuss the issue for at least 20 minutes at a full council meeting.

 


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Article by:

Patrick Bate

Patrick is a filmmaker with so much Bristol in his blood the white blood cells are graffiti'd. Educated at the Northern Film School in Leeds, he’s returned home to be a Videographer and Reviewer for 365Bristol and BARBI. When he’s not messing about with cameras, he enjoys playing guitar, spending far too much time on tabletop RPGs, and being an awful snob about cider. Have a look at his work here, or get in touch at patrickb@365bristol.com.