Ice cream seller left frustrated by strict trading policy near Greenwich Park

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Service

A Greenwich ice cream seller has challenged the local council’s street trading policy, calling it “unfair” after being told vendors can’t trade in one street.

Paul St Hilaire Sr, 69, has sold ice cream in the borough town centre for 30 years, with the business being his primary form of income to raise his seven children.

It is a long-running saga for the trader and his family – and the council, which had to deal with an influx of ice cream vans in the 1990s, according to Mr St Hilaire.

His son, Paul St Hilaire Jr, 37, says he wrote to a councillor 12 years ago to ask if his father could apply to trade on a fixed site in the town centre, and was told no.

The father and son then applied for a street trading licence to sell ice cream from a fixed site in King William Walk, beside Greenwich Park and the Old Royal Naval College.

They won their licence, even though the council appealed against the award and spent £52,000 in court costs fighting the case.

When the street was considered no longer an acceptable location, a few years later, the license to trade was lost and they were issued fines for ‘illegal’ trading.

Royal Museums Greenwich made objections to ice cream vendors, saying it  could affect the business of the museum’s café and franchises.

Mr St Hilaire Sr said: “What we want is fairness and justice. We want to be able to trade lawfully and fairly, to stop the council and museum’s partnership in the way they work together to stop fair and free trade.

“They are, in effect, colluding to stop genuine competition to protect their own revenue and incomes. This is completely unfair.”

A Greenwich council spokesman said: “With thousands of visitors passing by every year, we understand the desirability of King William Walk, between the Maritime Museum and Greenwich Park, as a location for street trading and sales of ice cream.

“However, the location is within a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a designated Conservation Area. Ice cream sellers can cause obstructions if narrow pavements become blocked by queues impacting on pedestrians including the elderly, disabled and those with pushchairs.

“Like many other local authorities, we have designated sensitive streets where street trading and or stationary and itinerant ice cream sales are prohibited. King William Walk is not designated for street trading or for the sale of ice cream.

“It is our role to balance the needs of residents and visitors with the interests of street traders such as Mr St Hilaire, who could already trade in hundreds of other streets in our borough.”

Picture: Paul St Hilaire Sr, 69, and Paul St Hilaire Jr, 37, shown in Greenwich town centre (Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon)