Market and Marquee COVID Measures to be Made Permanent
Published on in Business Support, Coronavirus & News
During the pandemic measures were brought in to ensure that hospitality businesses no longer needed planning permission to put up marquees on their land and councils no longer needed planning permission to hold an outdoor market. Following a public consultation the government has announced that these measures will be permanent in a bid to draw more people to high streets and town centres and boost local businesses.
Further information
The permitted development rights (PDR) introduced in 2020 to 2021 that are now being made permanent. These measures will apply to England.
- The Right for markets to be held by or on behalf of local councils
Originally introduced in June 2020, this PDR allowed markets to be held by or on behalf of local councils for an unlimited amount of days, including the provision of moveable structures related to this use.
This measure, which supported the use of outdoor public spaces and the reopening of the high street, will now be made permanent.
The right excludes markets on sites designated as Scheduled Monuments and Sites of Special Scientific Interest.
- Rights for moveable structures in the grounds of pubs, cafes, restaurants and historic visitor attractions
Pubs, cafes and restaurants will be able to erect a moveable structure for an unlimited number of days without the need for a planning application .
Listed pubs, restaurants, cafes and historic visitor attractions will be able to erect a moveable structure for 120 days in a 12-month period, subject to prior approval by the local council.
This will ensure we protect historic assets whilst also making best use of their outdoor spaces to operate in.
These rights exclude markets on sites designated as Scheduled Monuments.
Additional measures apply to all moveable structures to minimise impacts on surrounding communities, including limits to size, height and distance to residential boundaries.
These measures, introduced through PDRs, are separate to changes to pavement licenses introduced last year. Pavement licenses allow hospitality businesses to place furniture, such as tables and chairs, on the pavement outside their premises the PDR for movable structures allows businesses to install marquees in gardens or outside areas on their own land.