Efforts underway to regulate pavement cafés

As pavement cafés mushroom around Malta, efforts are underway to regulate them, after only a third of the 150 identified by the Malta Tourism Authority in tourist zones were found to have a police licence.

The authority has urged the errant establishments to apply, and 30 have had their licence issued while about 40 have started application procedures, the MTA said. The tourist zones are Sliema and St Julian's, Marsascala and Birzebbuga, Bugibba and St Paul's Bay.

The authority would not be taking legal action against those who have taken the initiative, acknowledging that the system has been flooded with applications, creating a backlog.

It said that of the remaining 30, who have not applied, a few had valid reasons, while the majority are to be fined and taken to court for operating outdoors without a licence.

The MTA had nothing against street furniture. On the contrary, it was encouraged because it embellished areas.

The message is that street cafés can have as many tables and chairs as their permits allowed, but they would have to pay a licence.

Malta needed to enhance its product and create an appealing ambience, the MTA said. However, it also insisted on law and order. Otherwise, tables and chairs would even be put in front of doors to private residences.

At St Paul's Bay the local council has announced a new policy aimed at encouraging the setting up of tables and chairs outside catering establishments.

Ten applications for the widening of pavements have been approved under the policy so far, mayor Paul Bugeja said.

Businesses were invited to submit their proposals, he said, adding that nine applications were under consideration and another four had been refused.

The applications are determined by a board, composed of the mayor, a Labour and a Nationalist councillor and the council's architect.

Applications are discussed by the council when the board does not reach unanimous agreement, Mr Bugeja said.

The council issued permits mainly in tourist areas and also depending on whether an extension would obstruct traffic and the public.

The local council believed in the importance of tourism for the locality and was doing its best to enhance the environment.

"The atmosphere is more lively since the pavement cafés were set up. Patrons want to stay outdoors and, where there are extensions, it looks good at night," Mr Bugeja said.

Although the approved extensions were mostly in tourist areas, he said other zones were not automatically excluded.

The outlets eligible for extension permits were mainly on corners, where cars could not park in front of them. The pavements could, therefore, be extended without parking spaces being lost, Mr Bugeja said.

Eventually, when parking problems were resolved, other pavements would be extended.

Among the conditions, the pavements had to allow access to the public, with over a metre of free space for a wheelchair, or a pram to pass.

The extension works would have to be carried out at the expense of the applicants.

Mr Bugeja said feedback from residents and businessmen had been positive, with the exception of a pavement in Church Street, whose extension was continuously being objected to. The street was more of a residential than a tourist zone and the council would be taking a decision about the matter this week.

Attention had also been drawn to a complaint that an outlet near a bus terminus in Bugibba did not have more than a metre of free space for public access. But the owner immediately complied when this was drawn to his attention, Mr Bugeja said.

Otherwise, complaints from Bugibba residents were few, he added.

As for enforcement, the mayor said it was in the hands of the police and not the wardens. The council could, therefore, only draw the attention of police to any abuse.

Until two years ago, licences for placing tables and chairs outside catering establishments in public areas were issued by the police. Now, they are the onus of the MTA, after consultation with the Lands Department and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, the Tourism Ministry said.

The MTA has set up a committee to smooth out and facilitate the processing of licence applications, which previously took ages.

Permits included a set of conditions, such as not encroaching onto the property of others.

The MTA said the Lands Department had the power to revoke a permit and even remove the furniture.

Discussions were underway to come up with a system that would make enforcement faster and more efficient, avoiding having to go to court.

The authority would be dealing with the Mellieha and Valletta areas soon.

To curb any abuse, the ministry is also in the process of enforcing demarcation lines within which each catering establishment would be licensed to place its tables and chairs.

The painted boxes would make it easier to identify any abuse, the ministry said.

It was useless issuing licences, without delineating the area allotted to each café, with marks on the ground to be able to check.