Agenda item

Report of the Head of Public Health and Protection asking members to consider passing a resolution to adopt a new consent street in Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council’s area for street trading.

Officers gave an overview of the submitted report which outlined various considered options for a new permanent street trading consent to replace the existing one in Stonehills.

The existing site in Stonehills has had street trading since 1983 but due to the pedestrianisation works in the are the vendor has been moved to a temporary location on the corner between Stonehills and Howardsgate, under a temporary licence granted by Hertfordshire County Council.

Proposed new locations have been discussed with Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) Highways, as well as other departments across the council including parking services, environmental health, hackney carriages, planning and estates.

As the existing site is no longer suitable, the options available to the committee were:

·        Remove the consent from that site

This would prevent single traders from using that site at all including one-day events.

·        Add conditions to existing consent so it is only used with permissions from the council

·        Leave the site as an open street trading site.

Policy states that when sites become vacant the council must advertise it for a new trader.

Discussion with the committee covered the following topics with officers providing clarification:

·        Consultation at this point had been with other council departments and HCC Highways; ward councillors will be included as part of wider consultation if resolution is passed: consultation results will then come back to this committee for final decision.

·        The locations considered at this point were primarily from a road safety point of view as the locations were put forward by HCC Highways. Many of the options have flats above; the location of nearby flats to the current temporary location has resulted in noise complaints. The committee are mindful of the mix of residential and commercial, knowing that more residential development in the town centres will increase these issues.

·        Other locations (for example Wigmores South and Church Road) were ruled out an earlier stage due to width restrictions and the proximity of other rate-paying traders.

·        Concerns were raised regarding the safety of the site by the bus station as the area is very quiet at night once the buses stop running and the Howard Centre is closed. Officers confirmed that the police will be able to voice any safety concerns during consultation. The site was agreed to be the best overall taking into account these considerations.

At the conclusion of the discussions, the committee agreed

(UNANIMOUS)

·        For the site at the rear of Bebos to go out to consultation

·        For the existing site on Stonehills to be retained with conditions for one-off events with permission from the council.