To consider the report of the Service Lead - Environmental Health & Community Safety.
Minutes:
The Chair introduced the Committee. The Solicitor set out the procedure, the Council’s policy and the requirements under the Local Government
(Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982.
The Principal Licensing Officer, presented the report which advised the
Committee that the applicant was seeking approval to engage in street trading at:-
· St Leonards Road, Exeter, EX2 4LS (Location 1, Wednesday’s between 17:00 and 21:00 hours);
· Collins Road, Exeter, EX4 5DE (Location 2, Friday’s between 17:00 and 21:00 hours);
· Isleworth Road , Exeter, EX4 1QU (Location 3, Tuesday’s between 17:00 and 21:00 hours); and
· Prince Charles Road, (This was a proposed site if sites 1-3 were not available for any reason.) (Location 4)
The Principal Licensing Officer, presented the report which advised the
Committee that the applicant was seeking approval to engage in street trading, selling Wood fired baked Pizza, desserts and soft drinks and had applied to trade for a six month period and had submitted a photographs of the proposed purpose-built food trailer. A small generator would be used and the Applicants were in the process of registering the business with Exeter City Council Environmental Health Department for food hygiene purposes,
The Applicant was attendance and spoke in support of the application, stating that because they had been unable to operate their wedding catering business during the coronavirus outbreak, the new business had been set up to allow the Applicants to continue using their existing trailer. A business plan had been setup during the lockdown period and having considered the locations originally proposed, the Applicant confirmed that Isleworth Road would not be suitable. St Leonards Road was a wider road and a more favourable location to place the trailer and maintain social distancing. Collins Road had been considered because a fish and chip van had once operated there. The Applicant explained that he had been in correspondence with Environmental Health, who had no issues about the Applicant also operating from his private home address.
The Applicant stated that the business would be selling wood fire pizzas, using locally sourced ingredients and using no single use plastics or condiments.
In response to questions from Members and the Legal Advisor, the applicant responded:-
· That there would be no use of polystyrene and that research into biodegradable packing had been undertaken for food safety products;
· The van would use a petrol generator only when the vehicle was not in use and the windows were open to vent fumes. The van would also use LED lighting on the ceiling and in the fridge unit;
· The school on St Leonards Road had not been approached, but the business would be operating outside of school hours and he would speak to the school;
· The wood burning oven would be used to produce the final products, having prepared the pizza dough and ingredients in a kitchen. The wood used for the oven would be purchased from a local farm and burned at 400 degrees;
· Customers would be informed if any pizzas were unsuitable for persons with gluten intolerance;
· The roads which would be operated from, would be St Leonards Road, Collins Road and Prince Charles Road on the days and times stated in the report;
· To ensure proper social distancing was maintained, there would only be one person near the van at all times, who would also be distanced from the team. The business would also encourage the use of online and telephone ordering for a click and collect system using card payments only. The Applicant would also consider using bikes to deliver pizzas in the immediate area of where they would be operating from.
The Principal Licensing Officer commented when asked about smoke control areas, that in the event that smoke was emitted, it would be a defence for the consent holder to either be using a Defra (Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs) approved appliance, or a Defra approved fuel source. He commented that there was no issue from the Licensing team in regards to the Applicant using private property to operate from, which Environmental Health had also stated having no issue with.
A proposal to add the following condition was moved, seconded and carried by majority for:-
RESOLVED that the application be approved with the following conditions:
(a) That all of the conditions contained within Appendix A of the Street Trading Policy dated 2015 should be included in the consent;
(b) That the consent holder will provide a bin for customer use and that the consent holder will ensure that any rubbish in the vicinity (within 100m of the business), emanating from the business is cleared away at regular intervals;
(c) The use of an A frame board and flags is prohibited;
(d) The consent holder will not conduct fly posting;
(e) In the event that any issues do arise from this consent, then this consent may be revoked by the Service Lead Environmental Health and Community Safety in consultation with the Chair of the Licensing Committee;
(f) That, in line with the Council’s resolution of 24th April 2018, any cutlery, food/ drink containers, and drinking straws used should not be made from single use plastics; and
(g) The Consent holder shall take all reasonable steps to ensure compliance with Guidelines on Social Distancing published by the Government from time to time.