Belsize village streatery

• I DOUBT many residents are aware there is again an application for an extension to the Belsize village streatery by the Belsize Village Business Association (BVBA).

This time there is no end date on the notice so presumably is for a permanent licence, although that word does not appear explicitly in the application either (I have asked Camden to clarify).

While a supporter of emergency business support in the first summer of the pandemic I have become strongly against using our public space in Belsize Terrace as an outdoor dining space over the past summer and certainly ahead.

I have wondered over the last few months where residents’ opinion stands, especially those like me that live in the immediate proximity of the square. The BVBA would say that the over 90 per cent pro-streatery result in the June survey by Camden is the answer.

I have wondered about this and how much the residents’ responses where muddled up with those of the visitors to the streatery; or of residents that do not live in the immediate proximity and are thus not affected by the withdrawal of public space and the congestion outdoor dining creates.

I have asked the council through a Freedom of Information request for a breakdown of answers in buckets based on distance to the square.

Sadly their answer was: “We are refusing your request under Section 12 of the FOI Act on cost grounds because we estimate that compliance with your request will exceed the ‘appropriate limit’…

“The appropriate limit includes the time it will take the council to discover if it holds the information requested, to locate it, extract it and collate it as well as putting it into any particular format requested by the requester”.

This makes me wonder how much Camden really looked into the answers at all and how much of a formality this survey must have been rather than a real attempt at understanding resident needs.

It is certainly not a transparent decision. As a resident that has missed the space for my children to play, has been unable to sit in the benches in the sun, and has suffered the influx of cars and buskers and lost the tranquillity of a residents’ neighbourhood, Camden’s approach to the grating of the streatery licence is inconsiderate.

In addition, by now, there appears to be mainly one user / beneficiary on the businesses side, given its better access to the terrace.

Is it worth sacrificing the needed public space of Belsize Terrace for the extension of the private dining area of one restaurant? A question for residents and council.

Please have your say by writing to Camden Council: tablesandchairslicence@camden.gov.uk

M SEBASTIA, NW3