North London's Brent Street council has decided to allow a parklet outside Pita Street restaurant to stay despite complaints from hundreds of local residents. Tory councillor Alex Prager submitted a petition with over 500 signatures opposing the parklet, citing issues like parking shortages and antisocial behavior. However, Sara Conway, the council’s cabinet member for community safety, argued there were no reported incidents of antisocial behavior at the site. The decision was made during a Tuesday meeting where Alan Schneiderman, the environment and climate change cabinet member, supported the pragmatic approach to parklets across Barnet.
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The decision to allow the renewal of a licence for the space at 134 Brent Street came during a cabinet member on Tuesday.
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decision → allow → Tuesday
It means that, despite the best efforts of Tory councillor Alex Prager, the owners of the Pita Street restaurant in Hendon will be allowed to renew their licence for the parklet when it expires at the end of January next year.
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it → mean → January
The decision followed a petition submitted by Cllr Prager, who is a ward member for Hendon.
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who → follow → Hendon
Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting, Cllr Prager argued that “residents don’t want” the parklet and that it should be removed when the licence expires.
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licence → speak → parklet
Explaining his view, Cllr Prager pointed to a “huge increase in demand” for parking bays, partly fuelled by residential developments nearby.
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Prager → explain → developments
“It’s always empty,” added Cllr Prager, who told cabinet he had received “hundreds of emails” from residents complaining about the parklet, which is around three car parking spaces in length.
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which → ’ → length
The Conservative councillor argued that its removal was supported by more than 500 residents who signed the petition – around 95% of whom, he said, live in the “immediate area”.
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he → argue → area
He said the petition was created around a year ago, and had 30 to 40 signatures before he posted it to social media, leading to a large increase in support.
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he → say → support
Cllr Prager admitted that he had not met with the owner of Pita Street, but had spoken with nearby shop owners, who were concerned about losing business as a result of fewer car spaces available.
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who → admit → spaces
, the petition claimed that the spot has become “a magnet for antisocial behaviour”.
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spot → claim → behaviour
This, said Cllr Prager, came as a result of a complaint he’d received about “women feeling intimidated” walking down the road at night with people “hanging around” the space outside the restaurant.
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people → say → restaurant
Sara Conway, the council’s cabinet member for community safety, community cohesion and ending violence against women and girls, said there had been no recorded incidents of antisocial behaviour at the parklet.
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Conway → end → parklet
She also noted that “structures like this” had been taken out where such behaviour had been reported elsewhere in Barnet.
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behaviour → note → Barnet
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“I would urge residents to report issues that they’re concerned about to the police, to the council, as appropriate,” Cllr Conway added.
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Conway → read → council
Alan Schneiderman, cabinet member for environment and climate change, argued that the council had taken “a very pragmatic approach” to parklets across the borough.
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council → argue → borough
“I don’t think that it’s in the interests of the business to pay for something if it is not being used,” he added.
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he → think → something
Cllr Prager, disagreeing with this logic, responded: “We have over 550 local residents saying they don’t want it here – you have one business saying they do want it here, and is willing to pay for that.”
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they → disagree → that
Given this, he claimed that removing the parklet was “a no-brainer”.
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removing → give → parklet
Allowing it to remain in place would, on the other hand, be “essentially ignoring” residents and nearby shop owners.
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it → allow → residents
Barry Rawlings, leader of the local authority, disagreed, saying the council and the restaurant had signed a contract “and we have to abide by that”.
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we → disagree → that
The Labour leader continued: “I don’t think that we should punish a business that has obeyed the rules and behaved properly.”
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that → continue → rules
In a report, the council estimated that removal of the parklet would cost between £2,000 and £5,000.
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removal → estimate → 2,000
Cllr Schneiderman explained that the council is set to have a review of its parklet policy and, when that happens, the Hendon restaurant “may or may not choose to renew based on the terms that are offered”.
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that → explain → terms
The Aporia
