As many Calderdale pubs, restaurants, hotels and other hospitality businesses prepare to reopen from Saturday 4 July, the Council is supporting them to welcome people back safely after the national lockdown closures.
To protect customers, staff and the community from the risk of COVID-19, Calderdale Council is working with local licensed premises to help them reopen in the safest way possible, and to ensure people can follow social distancing guidance when returning to these businesses.
The Council has sent a letter to all licensed premises in Calderdale, including pubs, restaurants, hotels and B&Bs, outlining the support available and guidance on safe reopening.
As part of the ongoing partnership work to make Calderdale a safer place, the Council’s enforcement officers and community safety wardens are joining up with West Yorkshire Police to visit licensed hospitality businesses across Calderdale to offer guidance. They will continue to respond to any requests for support over the coming weeks, in addition to the help being provided by Halifax and Brighouse BIDs.
The Council has been working with West Yorkshire Police, the local BIDs, the Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Small Businesses and Calderdale & Kirklees Manufacturing Alliance to help businesses adjust to the new ways of working and to support Calderdale’s longer-term economic recovery.
Cllr Susan Press, Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Services and Communities, said:
“We know that, sadly, hospitality businesses have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic. They are key to our local economy and we are determined to support the sector in any way we can to help it bounce back.
“It’s a great boost to the economy and our local independents that they can now start to cautiously reopen, if they feel confident to do so. However, COVID-19 hasn’t gone away and safety remains our priority, so we are supporting our local licensed premises to reopen in a way that protects their staff, customers and the wider community. We must all still take extra care when we go out, to help keep everyone safe and well. Safety measures will be the norm when we’re out and about for some time to come.
“We are also making changes to our licensing processes where possible. This is part of a whole range of ongoing work to ensure a safe future for Calderdale.”
Following advice from the Government, the Council has adapted the way it grants street licences for premises, to help businesses and customers follow safety and social distancing requirements. To make it easier for licensed premises to seat and serve customers outdoors, the Council has reduced the turnaround time for new pavement café licences to seven days (a licence is needed for permission to put tables and chairs on the pavement). Alcohol licensing changes will allow businesses with an existing on-sales licence to also serve alcohol for consumption off the premises and to make deliveries.
The Council is inviting businesses to share any suggestions they might have for longer-term changes to the highway that the Council could investigate to support them to reopen their business. To provide feedback, businesses are encouraged to use the interactive map developed jointly by the Council and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority: www.yourvoice.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/safestreets(external link)
As COVID-19 is still within our community we should all continue to keep at least two metres apart from people outside our households wherever possible, wash our hands(external link) with soap and water often, for at least 20 seconds, avoid touching our face and follow the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it(external link)’ guidance to help keep ourselves and others safe.
More information:
- The Government guidance for the hospitality sector can be found here: Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19) – restaurants, pubs, bars and takeaway services(external link).
- An online tool to help businesses assess risks and make adjustments for safe reopening is available here: Reopen your business safely during coronavirus (COVID-19)(external link).
- Licensees looking for more information can visit calderdale.gov.uk, which is being updated regularly. Find out more about pavement licences in Calderdale and alcohol and entertainment licences in Calderdale.
- For up-to-date and reliable information about COVID-19, use trusted sources such as:
www.gov.uk/coronavirus(external link)