The Store hotel opened in May on the corner of Broad Street and Cornmarket in Oxford and has had positive reviews for its Treadwell restaurant and rooftop bar.
Now, after receiving a pavement licence from the city council, it has offered diners the option of sitting outside on tables which take up some space on the pavement in Broad Street.
READ MORE: Latest on pedestrian crossing outside town supermarket
The move has prompted debate in an online discussion group run by Oxford Pedestrians Association.
Danny Yee said he was opposed to the seating on the pavement – which is close to a model of an ox – one of a large number throughout the city which are part of a family-friendly OxTrail.
(Image: Danny Yee) He wrote: “The cafe seating outside The Store is a major obstacle to pedestrians.
“Seating should not be allowed here – it needs to be either removed or relocated eastwards into the broader pedestrian ‘event’ space (not on the footway).
“I estimate the gap between the lamppost and the support base for the fence around the seating as about 1.2m.
“This should not be acceptable anywhere, let alone on one of the busiest pedestrian routes in the city.
“If you watch this location for any length of time, you will see streams of pedestrians forced to descend the kerb and go around the utility cabinet (and the Oxtrail Ox) – but this is not possible for wheelchairs or mobility scooters and creates a trip hazard for other users.
“Congestion here is also pushing pedestrians to the north, making conflicts in the cycle track worse.”
She said: “I think the potential issue is with tables on the street in general – Broad Street is narrow at this end, and there are both pedestrians and cyclists passing, in summer in very high numbers.
“However we have found that the tables on Cornmarket, which split the pedestrian space into two, feel more oppressive, and on St Michael’s Street where the city council have been careful to mark out lines over which tables and seating should not cross, there can be an issue for wheelchair users needing to pass and finding themselves obstructed.
“In OxPA we believe that outdoor cafes, though generally a good thing, as they are accessible to all, need to be planned carefully in terms of the space left and how it needs to be used.
“I am very mindful that when we carried out a survey of how our members use Queen Street and Cornmarket, several wheelchair users responded that they never go to the city centre as getting there by wheelchair is impossible for them.
“This strikes me as unacceptable.”
The Store has been asked to comment.
Help support trusted local news
Sign up for a digital subscription now: oxfordmail.co.uk/subscribe
As a digital subscriber you will get:
- Unlimited access to the Oxford Mail website
- Advert-light access
- Reader rewards
- Full access to our app
About the author
Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here.
He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.
His Trade and Tourism newsletter is released every Saturday morning.
You can also read his weekly Traffic and Transport newsletter.