Agenda item

The Licensing Officer, Phil Cooper, introduced the report regarding an application from Mr Nathan Worden for street trading consent to sell food and drink products, as listed in 1.1 of the report, from a Piagio vehicle outside 113 The Promenade.  The proposed trading days and times were set out in 1.3 of the report and the Officer pointed out that the proposed location was not one that was approved for street trading in the council’s adopted policy.  Appendices 1 and 2 showed the proposed trading pitch and Appendix 3 showed an image of the trading unit.

The Officer reported that objections had been received from the council’s public realm and planning enforcement officers, as outlined in 4.1 of the report.  Mr Worden was unable to attend the meeting but had asked for the application to be determined in his absence.

The Officer reminded members that whilst the proposed trading location was not one of the approved sites in the council’s policy, members may grant the application if they were satisfied that there were reasonable and defensible grounds to depart from the policy in this instance.  Otherwise members may refuse the application.

Members posed questions to the Officer about the location of the trading unit, and the Officer replied that the pitch was on the pavement just beyond the Prezzo restaurant and confirmed this was outside the zone of the street trading control policy, which meant anyone could apply and all applications would come before committee.  He further added that the applicant had favoured this location in the Promenade with its high footfall, businesses and shops and that he was aware it was not an approved location.

Members questioned the grounds for the objections.  The Officer replied that one of the objector’s suggestions that a stall would be better than a vehicle was a matter of opinion and members should consider whether it enhanced the street scene. He confirmed that the Piagio van at the other end of the Promenade was licensed some 5/6 years ago as the committee agreed it did enhance the street scene, but that the notion of precedence should not be considered as each application should be considered on its own merit.  In reply to the objection regarding the A boards in this location, the Officer agreed that in the past there had been issues with A boards here from other businesses which could be considered to be obstructing the highway, but that this was an enforcement issue which had been dealt with.

Members had divided opinions on the suitability of the location, some liking the position, thinking it far enough away from the other Piagio van and that it added to the street scene.  Others felt its location near a busy traffic junction, under trees and near to already established competitors, was a matter of concern.  There were also concerns about waste disposal and hygiene conditions.  The Officer informed members that there were two standard conditions about rubbish disposal in the policy that related to all street traders; that any hygiene issues would be raised with environmental health and that no objections had been received from local nearby businesses, although one had wanted to object but his objection had been received too late.

There being no other questions, the Chair moved to vote.

Upon a vote, it was 3 for, 6 against.

RESOLVED THAT, the application from Mr Nathan Worden for a street trading consent be refused as it did not comply with the provision of the street trading policy.