Barriers to trade

A BOOMING street cafe culture in Berwick village has sparked warnings of a continuous glass wall along the road or a hotchpotch of makeshift barricades.
Traders want consistency in the style of pavement cordons, and they want gaps from parking spaces along the road to individual shops along High Street so shoppers can continue stepping from their cars to the shop fronts where street cafes operate.
Tables and chairs on pavements are in public space.
Until now Casey Council has subsidised their use, but the money has run out and traders will now pay an unsubsidised rate to use pavement space.
Applications for permits for barriers need to be consistent, the chamber of commerce says, and where glass walls and other partitions exist, the public needs direct access to every shop along High Street.
The council policy on glass walls is a work in progress.
Chamber president Harry Hutchinson says the council should issue no new permits until the policy is complete.
The chamber will also oppose old-style umbrellas, and tables and chairs on the pavements without the protection of partitions.