Pavement licensing

A pavement licence allows cafes, pubs, ice cream parlours or restaurants that sell food to put tables, chairs or furniture on a public pavement.

The furniture which may be used is:

counters or stalls for selling or serving food or drink
tables, counters or shelves on which food or drink can be placed
chairs, benches or other forms of seating
umbrellas, barriers, heaters and other items used in connection with the outdoor consumption of food and drink

We would also expect the type of furniture to be ‘in keeping’ with the local area.

We will only grant a pavement licence until 9 pm, all furniture must be removed after this time.

This licence does not allow you to serve alcohol if you do not have an alcohol licence. You would need to apply for a premises licence.

Apply

Before you apply you’ll need to provide the following information:

location plan with the outline of the premises in red line
proposed days and times of the week when furniture will be put on the highway. We will only grant a pavement licence until 9pm
photos or brochures showing the proposed type of furniture and information on the potential siting of it within the area applied
copy of your current public liability insurance certificate (minimum value of £5 million)
seating plan showing:
- measurements from the front of the property to the highway
- how seating will be arranged which should include measurements between tables and access to the premises
- measurements of all items within the area for example bins, awnings, gazebos

Once we have received and verified your application we will send you a public notice. You must display this notice at the premises and email us 2 photographs showing the notice on display. One of the photographs must show the detail of the notice and the other how it is displayed at the premises.

Example seating plan - select for a larger image.

If you require this seating plan in an accessible format, please email licensing@arun.gov.uk

If applicable you’ll also need to provide:

the reference of any existing pavement licence under consideration by us
any other evidence needed to show how any conditions will be met

After selecting the button below you’ll need to:

Have a credit or debit card for payment
Create an account if you do not already have one.
Select licensing.
Select apply for a licence.
Select Street Trading.
Select New application or renewal
Follow the onscreen instructions.

There is a fee for this service.

Apply for a pavement licence

What happens next

Applications are consulted upon for 7 days which start the day after we have received the application.

We will then publish details of the application on our website.

To see pavement licence applications you’ll need to choose pavement licence from the licence type dropdown.

We will also consult with the following:

Highways Authority
economic development department
environmental health department
property and estates department
planning department
West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service
Sussex Police
local ward councillor(s)
parish or town council
Littlehampton Traders Partnership
Arundel Chamber of Commerce
Bognor Regis Business Improvement District

We must consider any representations received during the public consultation period.

We will grant licences for 12 months unless there are good reasons for granting a licence for a shorter period. This could be for example because of plans for future changes in the use of the road space. Unless there is a specified reason for a shorter duration, the license will be for a period of 12 months. A pavement licence may not be issued for under 3 months and all current licenses will expire on 30 September 2024.

Representations

We only accept representations through our online portal.

You’ll need to complete your personal details and then choose whether to support or object to an application.

Site assessment

We will undertake a site assessment before any licence is granted.

We will look at:

public health and safety
if the proposal will negatively impact on neighbours
accessibility

Determination

Once the application is submitted, we have 14 days from the day after the submission to decide the application.

The 14 days are:

7 days for public consultation
7 days to consider the application and any representations received

Decision

Following the determination period, we can decide on one of the following options:

grant the licence in respect of any or all of the purposes specified in the application
grant the licence for part or all of the highway specified in the application and impose conditions
refuse the application

If we do not decide the application within the 14 day period, then the application will be deemed to have been granted.

Licence duration

New applications will only be issued from 1 October 2023 and will then expire on 30 September 2024.

Refusal of applications

If we consider an area is unsuitable for a pavement licence or if representations are made which cannot be lessened by conditions, we may refuse the application.

There is no statutory appeal process against our decision to refuse an application.

Enforcement

We may revoke the licence if we believe:

there has been a breach of condition
there are risks to public health and safety
the highway is being blocked
there is antisocial behaviour or public nuisance
the applicant gave false or misleading statements in their application
the applicant did not display the notice to the public for the relevant period

We may also revoke the licence where any part of the area which was licensed has become unsuitable. Where licences are revoked, we will give the reasons for the revocation.