The man who runs the Larder Club on Blake street in York says his business is going to be badly affected by a security barrier put up right outside the front door.
John Moss says he’s frustrated with the council and Make it York who he says have failed to consult on the positioning of the barriers.
He will be unable to put out any seating on the street during the Christmas period and will lose trade as a result.
He says he’s been told that a letter to inform him of what was happening when to the wrong address.
“One of the main issues for us is visibility for our business,” he told YorkMix.
“This is quite an unsightly barrier right out in front of us and detracts a lot of attention from from customers walking past.
“It also makes it impossible for me to put out any kind of outside furniture.
“So we had a street cafe licence, and we’ve always had at least ten seats at the front of our business, which increases our capacity by about 25%.
“That’s been taken away from what is hopefully going to be the busiest time of year.”
The Larder Club is a social enterprise supporting the rehabilitation of women offenders. Working closely alongside HMP Askham Grange, they fund work placements and offer employment opportunities for women offenders.
They also offer barista skills training for women offenders, equipping them with the art of creating great specialty coffee, a skill that can help them build a new future.
John said: “We appealed to a lot of people before it came, let them know that there’s there’s many sensible options and places to put a barrier.
“There’s a natural barrier at the top of the street anyway, there’s also a lot of other spaces down the street, that wouldn’t be negatively impacted.”
“I felt like a lot of my protests were ignored. I spoke to a lot of different departments about it, and they all kind of palmed off one to the other.
“It’s the council that’s responsible, it’s Make It York. And they’re all saying it’s somebody else’s responsibility.
“And it also it’s a bit of a slap in the face when we we work tirelessly to try and try and make things good for your social enterprise.
“So we offer all kinds of opportunities to disadvantaged people. We want things to work we want to build a nice place for York.
“And at the busiest time of year not only do we have a Christmas market – I love a Christmas market but ot detracts from from local businesses that are working throughout the year – now they put this barrier out in front of us.
“It’s difficult to swallow really.”
The temporary barriers are back in place as a measure against potential ‘hostile vehicle attack’ on York at Christmas.
James Gilchrist, director of transport, environment and planning at City of York Council, said:
“The location of security barriers is advised by the Police and counter terrorism experts in order to protect the city during this busy Christmas period.
“The barriers in this location are in the same place as last year. Council officers were made aware of the concerns of the business and reviewed the location with the Counter Terrorism Police last evening and arranged for the business to take part in the review.
“However, security advice meant that a practical alternative location could not be established.
“The business has also recently applied for a pavement café license, which is not yet granted. An update on the pavement café guidance is set to be considered by the executive and full council, following which this application will be reviewed.”
Make It York declined to comment.
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