Council moves forward with ice cream van ban on 33 streets
By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter
A street trader has challenged a council’s plans to ban ice cream vans from several streets.
Greenwich council has moved forward with plans to ban ice cream trading on over 30 streets across the borough in a new street trading policy.
Council documents said ice cream trading on 33 streets across Woolwich and Greenwich town centres could be banned due to their impact on public amenities and the “nuisance” it can attract.
The list includes King William Walk near Greenwich Park, which officers said was sensitive in terms of its appearance and character due to being within a World Heritage site and Conservation Area.
The topic was discussed at a cabinet meeting for Greenwich council on Wednesday.
David Dadds, speaking on behalf of ice cream vendor Paul Saint-Hilaire, said the trader had not been able to sell ice cream on King William Walk for six years after the council prohibited the street. He claimed Mr Saint-Hilaire had previously been granted a licence to trade on the street in court.
He added: “We traded for a year, and during that year there was no public nuisance, no undue interference with the pedestrians or vehicles. No harm was caused by selling ice cream on King William Walk.”
Mr Dadds claimed that the Local Government Ombudsman said that council officers’ reasoning behind the ban of ice cream trading on King William Walk was not sound. He said that the claims made by officers about the nuisance caused by such trading had already been contested in the crown court.
The solicitor asked for the council to consider either allowing ice cream traders to return to King William Walk, or defer the decision on the new street trading policy until more information on the topic could be collected.
The plans, if approved, would see vendors with ice cream vans being able to trade for up to 15 minutes on permitted streets in the borough. Traders would then have to move and would not be able to return to the same street on the same day.
The cabinet agreed to the draft street trading policy at the meeting, which will be presented to the full council for a later decision.
Pictured top: Paul Saint-Hilaire and Mr Dadds at the Greenwich cabinet meeting (Picture: Greenwich council)
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