Restaurants wanted for London's West End

Westminster City Council intends to attract more family-friendly restaurants to central London to increase tourist throughput, despite relentless pressure from operators keen to open bars.

The council has a programme of redevelopment under way for Leicester Square, Chinatown, Covent Garden and Soho. Work on Leicester Square began a year ago with the theme of alfresco and family-friendly catering.

Work begins in the summer on a plan to upgrade Chinatown, ensuring that its ethnic appeal is maintained by licensing and planning powers to avoid it being "swamped by chain establishments expanding from nearby areas", said the council.

According to Neil Hall, Westminster's project leader of the civic renewal team for the West End, part of the problem is the pressure for space. "Where there is a spare piece of land everyone wants to open a bar," he said.

About 20 million tourists visit the West End each year, and the council believes that the bar culture is deterring them. "We would like to upgrade the West End. It can only be sustainable if it trades up. We are much more interested in the family."

The council has been working with Shaftesbury, the major landlord in Chinatown, on introducing special planning zone status for the area. A draft plan for Chinatown is being launched this week for consultation, with the final version due in June.

"Our plan, developed in partnership with the Chinese community, will ensure the essential character of Chinatown is preserved as a family-friendly place for all," said Councillor Angela Hooper.

The area is made up of four main streets crammed with nearly 80 restaurants and four big supermarkets as well as other businesses. If the plan gets the green light, Westminster will focus on crime reduction, better street lighting and pavement cleaning, plus street entertainment features.

In Leicester Square, street crime has fallen from 60 incidents a month to five since the council began its upgrade. The scheme has been a great success, according to an independent evaluation commissioned by the council. "We are trying to adopt the approach that Leicester Square is a family-friendly and cinema area, so we are encouraging businesses related to these things into the area. We will do it later with Soho," said Hall.

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 17 - 23 April 2003