A BOOK shop is ready to close its doors following the introduction of street furniture licensing charges.

Sam Porter of Stephen’s Bookshop in Church Street has made the decision to close after 40 years of trading if she has to face paying the “puerile charges” to continue placing her goods and displays on the pavement.

A letter sent to all traders from Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) reveals that an annual licence of up to £180 plus an administrative charge of £62.50 will be required if they wish to continue the practice of putting out tables and chairs, displays and “other objects” on the pavement, which is classed as the public highway by MCC.

Mrs Porter was close to tears yesterday morning, Tuesday 26th June, explaining that the council “has done everything they can to kill us off”.

“All my takings come off my tressle table and I’m not paying them money for it as the charge will just keep on going up and up”.

“I’ve had enough. This street used to look gorgeous and now they are killing us off” she added.

Traders will have to comply with a list of criteria to ensure that the items do not cause offence or a traffic hazard or safety issue, and the street furniture must be “of accepted quality and be appropriate”.

They will need to display the licence prominently and provide evidence they have public liability insurance cover up to £5m.

Ros Edmunds from the Red Cross Shop said that a magazine recently said that Church Street was ‘the heart of Monmouth’ and showed pictures of the street in all its glory.

Phil Munday said that the unique street has been called vibrant, “if we are not here, there is no life”.

Mary Mahabir of The White Swan Tea Rooms said that although it was not a huge amount at the moment, “it will increase”.

David Tovey from Mon Teas added it was a “huge amount to what we are earning”.

Other traders said that they don’t put out their goods all the time because of varying weather conditions and during the winter they would not be making the most of the licence fee.

Roger Hoggins, Head of Operations for Monmouthshire County Council said: “MCC will not be issuing ‘on the spot fines’. We are meeting with individual businesses who wish to place items on the street. We are working with each business to assess if the furniture they wish to have outside their premises is feasible.

“In some instances furniture may not be allowed to be located and we hope that businesses act on this. If they do not remove the furniture we will visit the business again to see what can be done and only after this would we issue two letters asking for the furniture to be removed.

“A fine will only be incurred if a business fails to comply with the final notice to abide by the policy, and remove their furniture. We hope to work with businesses to prevent this from taking place.

“We are working with each business to arrive at individual permits which will authorise items such as A-boards, chairs, tables, displays etc. to be placed in the highway where this can be done safely.

“In arriving at the policy the council acknowledged the vibrancy that these items can bring to our streets and that they can offer valuable support to businesses but at the same time recognised the council’s responsibility to provide safe routes for the public, in particular for buggies, wheel chairs and visually impaired so this scheme offers sufficient flexibility to arrive at an agreement between the council and each business.

“The council has made the decision to look into street furniture in our towns following extensive consultation with council members, local councils, chambers of commerce, businesses, visually impaired and disabled groups and the council adopted a policy earlier this year to manage obstructions in the highway. The council strongly believes that residents and visitors to our towns should have access to safe routes on public highways.”