A LOCAL authority seeking to help hospitality businesses survive through Covid-19 pandemic-related restrictions has issued reassurances it will step in to prevent “a beer garden culture” developing in its streets.

Darlington Borough Council’s licensing committee agreed a move to increase the number and speed of pavement drinking licences being granted by handing decisions to officers rather than elected members after hearing ongoing social distancing requirements would leave many businesses on the brink.

Councillors were told here had been a concerted push from Government for local authorities to help develop outside spaces and that Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Robert Jenrick had written to council leaders in support of the hospitality trade and highlighting the expectation that more pavement cafe licences would be granted.

Officers said while 32 pavement cafe licences had been granted in the borough and more were being processed, numerous other businesses could benefit from using outside spaces.

Licensing manager Colin Dobson said while decisions on contentious pavement cafe licences ordinarily could take several weeks to make due to them being referred to the committee of elected members, streamlining the process by handing decisions to council and police officers could make the difference between businesses surviving and closing during the pandemic.

He said: “We consider this is a pragmatic approach and it is adapting to those extreme conditions that we do have at the moment.”

However, the committee’s chairman, Councillor Brian Jones, questioned what checks the authority would implement to ensure the licences were not abused, creating areas that were little different to beer gardens.

Mr Dobson replied: “One of our priorities is that we don’t want the pavement cafes to develop into a beer garden culture.”

He said licensing enforcement and police officers would support efforts to ensure rules such as social distancing were being adhered to and the authority also had been given powers to swiftly review licences.

Councillor Matthew Snedker said while many businesses were reliant on pavement cafe licences, he was concerned about a move to automatically grant businesses off licence sales.

He said: “You may have an enclosed area for seated drinking at tables with table service, but an off-licence kiosk would then lead to street drinking spilling out and we could then lose the definition of what a street licence or a cafe licence is, all the potential distress for neighbours and all the mess that comes with that.

“I know that it’s difficult for us to manage as it’s the automatic granting of an off licence.”

Mr Dobson said the council and police would gather evidence of businesses which did not strict to their licensing agreements and the Public Spaces Protection Order in Darlington town centre would “impact on those people drinking antisocially”.

He added the council would be closely monitoring the situation, through means such as CCTV, as lockdown measures were eased.

Mr Dobson said: “With the outside drinking it is a concern.

“What we don’t want is to have vertical drinking establishments – people standing up drinking in pavement cafes.

“It’s about the actual licensees maintaining control of their premises, which they have a duty to do.”