InformationPavement Licensing Policy Consultation
East Devon District Council consulted on a draft Pavement Licensing Policy. The consultation closed on 30 September 2025 at 5pm.
The Draft Pavement Licensing Policy was developed to ensure that the Council carries out its Pavement Licensing responsibilities in a fair, equitable and consistent manner.
Draft Pavement Licensing Policy
Draft pavement licensing policy approved
The draft pavement licensing policy was formally presented at the Licensing and Enforcement Committee on the 11 of February.
It was noted that numerous responses had cited a need for an earlier start time than the 10:00am start which had been proposed. Officers proposed that consideration be given to amending the general opening hours start time to 9:00am following the feedback received.
Following consideration by the Licensing & Enforcement Committee of the public consultation feedback the draft pavement licensing policy was approved by the committee with an amended start time for general opening hours in the policy of 9:00am.
A summary report of consultation responses is available and has been published, this report was part of the presentation to the committee. The report outlines the comments received and the key themes that emerged from the consultation.
Pavement Licensing Policy Public Consultation Summary Report pdf
Have Your Say Today - Pavement Licensing Policy Consultation - Commonplace
The purpose of a pavement license policy
Pavement licences provide permission for businesses to use furniture placed on the highway to sell or serve food or drink, and/or allow it to be used by people for the consumption of food or drink.
District councils were handed responsibility for issuing temporary ‘fast track’ pavement licences via the Business & Planning Act 2020 (BPA 2020) in August 2020. This was intended to streamline the process of obtaining a pavement licence and support businesses during the Covid pandemic. These temporary licences were limited in duration to 30 September 2024.
The Government subsequently made amendments via the Levelling Up & Regeneration Act 2023 to make the provisions of the temporary pavement licence regime permanent. As a result of these legislative changes, licences previously issued by Devon County Council under the Highways Act 1980 regime are now issued by district councils.
In order to promote consistency between local authorities across Devon and Cornwall, a Draft Pavement Licensing Policy was produced by the Devon Licensing Officers Group, with the aim of it being adopted in each local authority area.