Licensing - Street Trading & Charitable Collections

Also known as: Pavement Cafe, Street Furniture, Street Trading - Consents, Street Trading - Illegal, Town Square Bookings

Service Description: Selling, exposing or offering for sale, any article in the street. Street includes footways, car parks, and generally any area to which the public have access without payment.

The erection of signs or stalls for the sale of produce within the highway, including grass verges, is illegal. However, produce can be sold from the land on which it is grown, but signs advertising such facilities must be clear of the highway and may require Planning Permission. Any unlicensed use of the highway for tables and chairs is an obstruction and may be dealt with by the police.

There are three main types of permission which may have to be obtained before tables and chairs may be placed on a part of the highway:

Planning Permission and Listed Building Consent may be required from the Council for the use of the land or building for a cafe. There is a fee for this and planning approval must have been granted before an application will be considered by the Council.

A licence will be required, from the Council as the Highway Authority, to put tables and chairs out on a public highway, whether it be on the street or a pavement or a pedestrian area. There is a fee for this, payable before a licence can be issued.

To go directly to our Street furniture information please use the short link e.g. https://www.iwight.com/streetfurniture