Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs Cobbold, Dawlings, Hills, Jamil, Nuttall, Tompsett and Woodward.

To receive any declarations of interest by members in items on the agenda.  For any advice on declarations of interest, please contact the Monitoring Officer.

No declarations of interest were received.

Members should indicate which item(s) they wish to speak on and the nature of their concern/question/request for clarification.

No visiting members had registered to speak at the meeting.

The minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Committee dated 21 July 2015 were submitted.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the Licensing Committee dated 21 July 2015 be approved as a correct record.

Mr Stevenson, Head of Environment and Street Scene, presented a report which considered the Council’s Street Trading Policy. He stated that the Committee needed to reconsider their position on the policy at this meeting following a representation from a holder of a street trading consent at the meeting held on 21 July 2015, as cited in the report.

Mr Stevenson explained that the Committee had three options:

1.    It could recommend rescinding some or all of the current street trading consent streets, which would require formal consultation and a resolution by Full Council.

2.    It could amend the street trading policy. Mr Stevenson mentioned that Maidstone Borough Council, for instance, had a consultation for each street trading application that was submitted.

3.    It could make no changes, but would agree to review the issue again in 2016 before March, when the planning permission for the Calverley Road Precinct plots were due to expire.

He referred to the support for street trading shown in Appendix D, and in two more e-mails which he had received and tabled at the meeting.

In response to a question asked by the Chairman, Councillor Backhouse, Mr Stevenson said that if the application process were to be changed, then a consultation for each street trading application could be undertaken and would take approximately two weeks, and should run smoothly if there were no objections.

The Chairman then invited Mr Pound, who was in support of the street trading policy, to speak. Mr Pound said that he believed street trading offered a vibrant and cultured atmosphere, and that from his experience, street fairs in areas such as North London brought people to the local area. He said that this was allowed to happen in The Pantiles, which had restricted parking, and so he felt that an opportunity had been missed at the top of the town in the Precinct area. He said that choice attracted consumers, and was good for competition. Although poor take-up should be addressed, Mr Pound argued that this was not a good enough reason to redact the policy in its entirety, and that the policy should be available for those who wanted it. Mr Pound believed that the policy should be revisited in March 2016 when there was more information available.

Mrs Smith, who was representing her business Mrs Florist, then presented a petition to the Chairman, who invited her to speak. Mrs Smith said that the policy first appeared to be a breakthrough, and that it was a success for her business as it helped it to grow and to provide employment in the local area. She said that she was pleased by the response to the campaign to reinstate it, whereby 95 per cent of businesses in the area said that they liked to see her stall where it was. She said that it added to the community and brought people into the area. Mrs Smith believed that the biggest issue with the policy was disappointing take-up, but that this was  ...  view the full minutes text for item LC50/15

To consider any other items which the Chairman decides are urgent, for the reasons to be stated, in accordance with Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no items of urgent business.

The next meeting will take place on 1 December 2015 at 6.00 pm.