In relation to a handful of readers commenting on Liverpool City Council being correct over the PL106 being revoked earlier than was agreed upon.
The Directors of Castle Street Townhouse would like to state the current situation in relation to Liverpool City Council Licensing and its Pavement Cafe licence ( PL106 ) being revoked. Also to make it clear that this is the last time they comment on this issue, as they would like to move forward with business.
Under the “Without Walls” scheme large parasols, that wouldn’t be uprooted with high winds, and planters were used with the Pavement Licence to demarcate the Pavement Cafe area. The pavement distance being 2 metres in the case of Castle Street Townhouse as dictated by LCC. It’s 1.5 metres elsewhere. Whereas tables and chairs for example where fine to be stored internally in the main bar, we had some issues with large planters as they were hard to move, due to the above reasons, set out by LCC. This is the issue we asked for time for a solution for some alternative storage.
Director of Castle Street Townhouse Bakir commented:’ The main issue here was the date given by LCC of August 31st for us to organise some additional storage for larger items such as planters and parasols. We had sourced some additional storage but then we were told 10 days or so before the deadline that LCC had decided to change this date at the last minute. Obviously this hit us as a business a few days before the busiest bank holiday of the year.”
When LCC Licensing served the Revocation Notice last week it was stated that it had been served due to the use of the area in front of the former Bank of England, the same area that the current freeholder had given permission to use the curtilage of to Castle Street Townhouse! A legitimate application was made for a Pavement Cafe Licence under the Business and Planning Act (2020) when the “Without Walls” scheme was terminated. This application included the curtilage of the former Bank of England, which is next door to the Castle Street Townhouse. Bakir added “ We had written permission from our friends and neighbours next door, JSM Group – who own the Bank of England. This was to use their outdoor space, while they did not need the space due to being in planning. This was not for some reason bolted onto our application!”
Lastly, what is very disturbing on our part is the fact that Liverpool City Council Licensing officers discussed the revocation with another business on Castle Street, prior to this revocation! This is clearly a breach of the GDPR. We will be looking to take this further and also have asked senior management of Liverpool City Council for all evidence and documents relating to this matter. These items have still not been made available to us. We have been informed that this has been archived, so await replies.”
We have submitted a new application for a Pavement Cafe License this week and in the meantime are happy to work with LCC to move forward and put this situation to bed. We would now like to concentrate on business.”
Lastly for context here are just a few randomly selected comments made by Liverpool Echo readers following publication of a statement on Friday 25th August.
-Terrible decision by the council yet again
-Another decision from the incompetent council !! Haven’t they anything better to do ? Maybe their job ?
-Typical pen inept Liverpool City Council employees pushing pens to appear to be doing something useful. Shut the council down, start again.
-Clever move.
We wouldn’t want the atmosphere of the continental pavement cafes and bars .
would we?
-Absolute joke of a decision made by pen pushers who have got nothing else to do than find something to moan and change
-There’s plenty of space to get past with whatever you using
This follows complaints about tables and chairs preventing pedestrians and wheelchair users from being able to navigate the pavement.”
The entire road at this end is pedestrianised so I’ve never heard such a load of cobblers in all my life.
There is more to this story – sounds like pettiness on someone’s part or a jumped up ‘unelected official’ spitting his dummy out.
Castle Street Townhouse – 25-27 Castle St, Liverpool L2 4TA
Castle St Townhouse specialise in delicious food featuring fresh ingredients and masterful preparation by the artistic culinary team.
Website –
Castle St Townhouse | ALL DAY Dining Devoted To You