Camden Council has launched a public consultation on whether to make the open air eating and drinking pens on lower Charlotte Street a permanent feature along with other changes, and is also canvassing opinion on longer term plans proposed by The Fitzrovia Partnership Business Improvement District (BID).
The council claims in the consultation that it wants to change the streets “to have more safe space for everyone to walk and cycle, for children to get to and from school safely and healthily, for you to be breathing cleaner air, and for businesses to be able to flourish”.
It continues saying: “We want our streets to provide a lasting legacy of greener, safer, healthier travel with places for people to spend time in and enjoy, regenerating our local neighbourhood centres and high streets.”
But while the proposals are being put forward under the guise of a “safe and healthy streets” programme they are almost wholly commercial, and almost entirely benefiting the hospitality trade which has expanded across Fitzrovia and the borough of Camden since 2019.
Frequently Camden Council spends public money on widening pavements to make it easier for pedestrians and wheelchair users to navigate the streets. Then, inevitably, the rotten borough invites businesses to apply for tables and chairs licences to occupy the extra space created, and the usable pavement area for people trying to get about is back to where it was before.
In the same way the streateries programme exchanges private car parking for private enterprise.
The streateries on Charlotte Street were first put in as a temporary measure in 2020 and 2021 in response to the early years of the Covid pandemic when indoor seating was restricted.
Now Camden Council wants to make them permanent, egged on by the Fitzrovia BID which is carving up the neighbourhood and promoting three eating and drinking quarters.
Five streateries on Charlotte Street are under consideration for being permanent fixtures.
The council says that from previous consultations there is broad support for the streateries, despite concerns about alcohol consumption causing a noise nuisance for residents living nearby, customers blocking the footways, and the removal of kerbside loading space making deliveries difficult.
Many residents groups across the London Borough of Camden are also concerned about the increase in the number premises licensed to serve alcohol since 2019.
“One of the biggest concerns around noise is around the outdoor eating ‘streateries’ that have been installed. There is worry about the levels of noise that are generated through their use. The consultants, as well as other stakeholders, also noted that they do not fit in aesthetically with the strong streetscape in Fitzrovia,” stated a report for Camden’s Licensing Committee.
On Conway Street in Fitzrovia a streatery was removed after complaints about noise nuisance and customers blocking the pavement.
Also under consideration in Charlotte Street are proposals to make permanent the loading bays outside numbers 24 to 30, the southbound only motor-traffic direction on the lower part of the street, and “no parking or loading at any time” restrictions around junctions.
Looking further ahead, Camden is seeking views on the Fitzrovia BID’s “Fitzrovia Village” strategy which proposes increasing commercial activity in the neighbourhood and even more areas for outside eating and drinking.
First released two years ago the document still contains the many factual errors that The Fitzrovia News pointed out previously.
Discover more from The Fitzrovia News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Comments are closed.