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V27-107 : STREET TRADING

RESOLVED

1. That Standing Orders be suspended to allow Councillor R. Carter, Chairman of the Housing and Environmental Services Committee, to participate in the discussion of the following item.

The report of the Director of Housing and Environmental Services referred to earlier reports to the Housing and Environmental Services Committee proposing revisions to the scheme under which street trading Consents and Licences were issued. That Committee had referred the matter to the Licensing Panel for consideration of the detailed issues arising from the consultation exercise, to include such matters as fees and designation of streets.

Halesworth Town Council had asked that The Thoroughfare and Bridge Street, Halesworth (both sides) be designated as Licence Streets rather than Consent Streets, and the Panel agreed with this and recommended that the Schedule of Designation be amended accordingly. Southwold Town Council had requested that Godyll Road and Blackshore (Carnsey) Road should be designated as Prohibited Streets, and these had already been proposed as such in the Schedule of Designation and so no amendment was required.

In considering the representations of a Mrs Jackson and of Councillor Goldsmith concerning fees to be charged for trading on part of the Cliff Top path at Southwold, the Panel considered that the designation of that part of the Cliff Top path as a Consent Street had worked well for the past year. They therefore recommended that the situation should continue, and that parts of the Cliff Top path referred to in the Schedule of Designation be removed from the Licence Street section and reinstated as a Consent Street.

The Schedule of Charges was of concern to certain representees. The Panel considered a detailed report from the Director of Central Services explaining a way forward for the adoption of appropriate charges for street trading licenses. The Director gave comparison of charges from other Authorities in the region which ranged from a one month licence costing £120 to a fixed charged charge at Oxford of £3,221. The Director of Central Services highlighted a number of issues which needed to be taken into account when setting a fee. In proposing a fee of £135 highlighted the need to introduce a fee structure that reflected the existence of nearby markets, did not lead to claims of unfair competition, gave parity with current market rent levels within the district and underpinned the desire and commitment of the Council to safeguard and protect the trading position of existing market stall holders.

In doing so the Director of Central Services suggested that one way forward would be to have fee bans or zones which reflect the differing economic characteristics of the designated streets and to illustrate the point gave an example of Band A (highest) London Road North and Band C (lowest) Cliff Top paths Southwold. Band A being £20 per day i.e. £6,245 per annum Band C being £10 per day i.e. £3,120 per annum. He warned however that with this level of charge it was unlikely to achieve a high take-up and that concessions and instalment payments would need to be considered. Charities would also need to be taken into account and it was proposed that no fee be charged where street trading takes place under the authority of a charity collection permit issued by the Chief Executive and special arrangements needed to be made for events such as the Airshow and the Triangle market events. To aid the Panel in considering the level of charge the Director of Central Services gave details of the market rents now being charged by the Council at the Britten Centre Triangle Market and Beccles Halesworth and Southwold. These ranged from £11.40 per day £2,964 per annum to £16 per day £4,160 per annum.

The Panel accordingly accepted the principle of higher rates of charges for Licences than those originally proposed and of a banded schedule of charges to reflect the differing economic characteristics of the various designated Licence streets. The Panel also allocated each Licence street to a band, and recommended that as the high specification of trading vehicles required could mean a high start-up cost for applicants, fees should be payable monthly in advance.

Concerning conditions of Licences and Consents, the Panel broadly accepted the proposed standard terms and conditions as set out in the appendix to the report of the Director of Housing and Environmental Services of 11 March 1999. The Panel considered, however, that with regard to Licences there should be two additional standard conditions requiring that at the end of each trading day the trading vehicle was removed from the pitch and not left overnight, and that the time of day when the trading vehicle may be moved onto or off of the site should be specified.

The Panel considered that each application should be considered on its own merits, and that in determining such applications the Panel should take into account whether or not there was enough space in the relevant street to accommodate the trading proposed and/or whether or not there already existed enough traders in the particular street from shops or otherwise in the goods in which the applicant desired to trade.

The Panel also accepted the proposal that the Director of Housing and Environmental Services should have delegated authority to determine applications for Street Trading Consents, but instructed that when a consent application was received, before determination of the application, the Director should notify the relevant Ward Councillors of the fact and circumstances of the application. If any Ward Councillor required the application to be submitted to Licensing Panel for determination, the Director would arrange this and would not exercise his delegated powers for that application.

RECOMMENDED

2. That, for the purposes of paragraph 2 of Schedule 4 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, the following streets within the Waveney District Council administrative area be designated as Prohibited Streets for the purposes of Street Trading, the effect of such designation being to prohibit any street trading in any of the streets so designated:

General

All of the A12 Trunk Road within the District, including service roads and lay-bys All of the A146 within the District, including service roads and lay-bys All of the A1117 within the District, including service roads and lay-bys All parts of car parks owned and/or operated by the Council, whilst being operated as public car parks
All of the B1375 within the District, including service roads and lay-bys

Lowestoft

Swimming Pool Road (entire length, both sides)
Whapload Road (entire length, both sides)
Leisure Way (from A12 junction to entrance to Pleasurewood Hills (both sides)

Beccles

Blyburgate (entire length, both sides)
Newgate (entire length, both sides)
Old Market (entire length, both sides)
The Walk (entire length, both sides)
Newmarket (entire length, both sides)
Ballygate (entire length, both sides)
St Mary's Road (entire length, both sides)
Peddars Lane (entire length, both sides)
The Quay (entire length, both sides)
Fen Lane (entire length, both sides)

Southwold

Ferry Road (entire length, both sides)
Southwold Harbour (from the junction with Ferry Road to the junction with Blackshore Road, both sides)
High Street (entire length, both sides)
North Parade (entire length, both sides)
East Street (entire length, both sides)
Parts of the cliff top path from junction with North Parade to junction with Gun Hill (including promenade)
Gun Hill
Godyll Road and Blackshore Road (entire length, both sides)

Halesworth

Market Place (entire length, both sides)
London Road (entire length, both sides)
Saxons Way (entire length, both sides)
Norwich Road (entire length, both sides)

3. That, for the purposes of paragraph 2 of Schedule 4 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, the following streets within the Waveney District Council administrative area be designated as Licence Streets for the purpose of Street Trading, the effect of such designation being to permit street trading in any of the streets so designated upon the issue of a Street Trading Licence by the Council and any street trading thereafter permitted being subject to the terms and conditions of the issued Licence:

Lowestoft High Street (both sides, from the junction with Camden Street to its southernmost extent)
London Road North, Lowestoft (including Queen Elizabeth II Place) (entire length, both sides)
The Boulevard, Oulton Broad (entire length, both sides)
Lowestoft South Beach Upper Promenade (entire length, both sides)
Lowestoft South Beach Lower Promenade (entire length, both sides)
Claremont Road, Lowestoft (entire length, both sides)
Waterloo Road, Lowestoft (entire length, both sides)
The Thoroughfare, Halesworth (entire length, both sides)
Bridge Street, Halesworth (entire length, both sides)
4. That all remaining streets within the Waveney District Council administrative area which have not been expressly designated as Prohibited Streets or Licence Streets be designated as Consent Streets for the purpose of Street Trading, the effect of such designation being to permit street trading in any of the streets so designated upon the issue of a Street Trading Consent by the Council and any street trading thereafter permitted being subject to the terms and conditions of the issued Consent.

5. That with effect from 1 August 1999 all previous designations of streets for the purposes of Street Trading within the Waveney District Council administrative area be rescinded and that the designations of streets as Prohibited Streets, Licence Streets and Consent Streets above shall take effect.

6. That applications for Street Licences be referred to the Licensing Panel for consideration and determination.

7. That the Director of Housing and Environmental Services be given delegated authority to determine applications for and, as appropriate, to issue Street Trading Consents, subject to terms and conditions considered to be relevant and appropriate, and subject to notification of the appropriate Ward Councillor(s) of the application before determination, such Ward Councillors being able to request that any application be submitted to the Licensing Panel for determination.

8. That the standard terms and conditions for Consents and Licences recommended by the Director of Housing and Environmental Services be agreed, subject to the addition of two further conditions in relation to Licences requiring that at the end of each trading day the trading vehicle is removed from the pitch and not returned until the recommencement of trading in accordance with the terms of the Licence, and that the time of day when the trading vehicle may be moved onto or off of the site should be specified.

9. That, in relation to Licence Streets, there be introduced two bands of charging, such charges to be as follows:

Band A £50 per day (subject to a minimum charge of £200)
Band B £20 per day (subject to a minimum charge of £200)

such charges to be paid monthly in advance.

10. That London Road North, Lowestoft, as designated, be allocated to Band A for the purposes of a Licence fee.

11. That all other Licence Streets so designated be allocated to Band B for the purposes of a Licence fee.

12. That, in relation to Consent Streets, a flat fee of £200 per unit be charged for a Consent, to be paid in whole in advance.

* Policy Decision

The meeting was concluded at 12.15 pm.

Chairman
LICENSING PANEL - 16/06/99

LICENSING PANEL - 16/06/99

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Volume 27 Minute 106

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