Planning Permission for burger van

ZootHornRollo

Hi, I am in the process of setting up a mobile catering unit. I have identified a pitch on private land in the car park of a national chain of shops. I am now st the stage of signing the lease so contacted the council about a street traders licence. They advised id need planning permission.

I contacted planning who warned that they would recommend the application was not approved on grounds of policy. They only approve sites in industrial estates.

I have done a fair bit of searching on the web and can find no mention of planning being required for pitches on private land off the highway. Has anyone else come across this?

Would it be worth speaking to my local councillor?

Thanks.

[Deleted User]

The Councillor can do very little. The Policy has been set. But they can influence a decision that is put to cabinet.

In essence as your trailer is going to be static (same place all the time) you would need planning permission. As you already know we need planning permission for everything and anything these days.

However I suspect that we are talking about the following;

Currently, the Council chooses not to implement the legislation on privately owned land, as long as the seller does not vend his goods directly onto the public highway. For example, catering vans located wholly on a private industrial estate, which do not vend their goods onto the public highway, are currently not subject to enforcement under the adopted legislation. This is not to say however that other permissions, such as planning permission, would not need to be sought. Advice regarding planning requirements may be obtained from the Council's Planning Section

I think the Council you talk about have adopted the above. So you really have a difficult challenge. Can you not look at another area?

We trade with the above guidance, so we are okay to just turn up and trade and you don't often get a planning problem when the above powers are not adopted.

Thinking about this some more, if you get your traders licence and then start, it will take the Council years to get you moved and you can apply to stay whilst they make their decision, would it not be a good idea to go back to the lease provider and see if they already have the permission, I can't see them drawing you a lease without knowing this already - most CBD areas have this already approved.

ZootHornRollo

assj wrote: »

The Councillor can do very little. The Policy has been set. But they can influence a decision that is put to cabinet.

In essence as your trailer is going to be static (same place all the time) you would need planning permission. As you already know we need planning permission for everything and anything these days.

However I suspect that we are talking about the following;

Currently, the Council chooses not to implement the legislation on privately owned land, as long as the seller does not vend his goods directly onto the public highway. For example, catering vans located wholly on a private industrial estate, which do not vend their goods onto the public highway, are currently not subject to enforcement under the adopted legislation. This is not to say however that other permissions, such as planning permission, would not need to be sought. Advice regarding planning requirements may be obtained from the Council's Planning Section

I think the Council you talk about have adopted the above. So you really have a difficult challenge. Can you not look at another area?

We trade with the above guidance, so we are okay to just turn up and trade and you don't often get a planning problem when the above powers are not adopted.

Thinking about this some more, if you get your traders licence and then start, it will take the Council years to get you moved and you can apply to stay whilst they make their decision, would it not be a good idea to go back to the lease provider and see if they already have the permission, I can't see them drawing you a lease without knowing this already - most CBD areas have this already approved.

I spoke to the Duty planning officer who claimed they previously removed vans trading without planning permission. All vans trading legally in the county are on industrial estates with only two or three exceptions of vans in laybys and harbour areas.

The Licensing Dept won't issue a traders licence without clearance from planning.

The lease states its up to me to ensure that the pitch can be used for the intended purpose legally.

The area the shop borders is an area ear marked for industrial/commercial use but is as yet undeveloped. That might be a good angle to take.

pardon my ignorance... whats a CBD?

Thanks for your advice.

[Deleted User]

Central Business District - The Town lol.

Ok well yeh sounds like you have plan 2 on the go.

I wouldn't sign a lease until you know that you can be there, it would just be a waste of money unless you can have a really short period, but if they are going to remove you then you won't really be able to build and establish the business. On the other hand some people would say do it for X months, make what you can and move to a new location.

I'm more for being settled and having regulars, I think it works much better.

If I were you I'd go with your new idea, it seems a safer option! HTH