• WHILE residents welcome the tables outside the restaurants within their curtilage and the added outside activity in Belsize Village, the worthy attempt to put tables on Belsize Terrace as a streatery has many pitfalls.

What was once public open space used by small children and their parents and carers, the young and old, meeting for a chat or simply to sit in the sun, has been turned into the domain of a single restaurant with a hostile environment for other users. It is so well barricaded that it is difficult for new visitors to know whether this is a public square or someone’s courtyard.

The narrow pavement on the west side is mostly occupied by commercial refuse bins and with a shopping trolley it is difficult to negotiate; plus passing another pedestrian is a tricky dance which is ridiculous when we had all the public open space and whole unobstructed pavement to use. The way the giant planters are placed makes it hard to get to the public square at all, particularly when there are people standing by the narrow gaps.

There is public demand for the benches but unfortunately these have been moved to face north, when most people like to sit in the sun, and are lined up like a waiting room; that they are still used is indicative of how much we need our public open space.

The streatery, or tables on the terrace, triangle could work if the area for the tables were restricted to near that café, without obstructing the pavement on that side, of course, the planters removed, and the benches moved back to face the sun, repositioned to be welcoming to the local residents and visitors for whom public open space is so important.

JANE BOARDMAN
Belsize Crescent, NW3