Bucks Council announces new street trading policy affecting food businesses

Vapes and balloons are among the goods facing potential bans under new street trading rules proposed by Buckinghamshire Council.

The local unitary authority has asked the public for their views on its new draft street trading policy, which replaces those of the former district councils, and covers all streets in the council’s area from Buckingham in the north to Iver in the south.

Under the proposals, which cover everything from applications to enforcement, all street traders will need consent from the council to trade in accessible public areas.

On page 13 of its draft policy, the council outlines what goods it will usually refuse to give street traders permission to sell.

These include tobacco, e-cigarettes and vapes, energy drinks to children under 16, plastic and helium balloons, sky lanterns, single use plastics and illegal drug paraphernalia.

Other generally prohibited items include merchandise displaying offensive language or sexually explicit images, as well as animals being sold as pets on the street or in a public place.

The draft policy states that events like school fairs are free to trade without council consent, as are shopping centres, arcades, farms, residential properties and sellers of second-hand cars.

Some businesses, such as ice cream or coffee vendors, who move around a lot may apply for ‘peripatetic street trading consent.’

This consent restricts them to 30 minutes at each location and says that each new trading location must be at least 50 metres apart in any 24-hour period.

Those who want to trade in a spot for longer than 30 minutes will need to apply for a street trading consent.

Food traders ‘will be required to achieve and maintain a minimum food hygiene rating of 3 or above’ and the authority may revoke or refuse consent if the rating is lower.

New applicants must fill out an application form and submit plans for the site they want to trade at, including its location and hours of operation, as well as a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Applications for street trading licences are subject to a 28-day public consultation, while the council will also consult key partners like its highways team and Thames Valley Police.

Traders will not normally be permitted to be within 250 metres of each other, unless the location is suitable for more than one trader and the businesses are complementary.

Likewise, consent will not be given to a trader whose business ‘blocks, obscures or impinges on the operation of another business’.

The draft policy adds: “Consideration will also be given to whether it is appropriate for traders to be located near to schools and similar buildings, especially if they are proposing to sell fast food.”

The document also states that child obesity rates are ‘high and increasing’ in Buckinghamshire, with nearly one in five children starting school above a healthy weight and a third of children leaving primary school overweight or obese.

The deadline to have your say is 28 April. More details can be found online here.