Food van plan proves unpopular
• A ‘one off’ food van parked at Old Pier Beach in Bridport last summer. Council will re-visit their mobile food van policy at the October meeting.
By Taylor Clyne,
September 18, 2019
Dorset Councillors have voted to defer the new municipal mobile food van policy for further discussion following some late lobbying by seaside business owners.
The purpose of the agenda item was to declare the region ‘open for business’ with Council allocating mobile food vendor areas to trade in if they so desired.
Under the policy Dorset residents would be able to apply for a permit for free while non-Dorset residents would pay a fee of $750.
Each permit would have a lifespan of one year and allow those approved to operate their food vans at five locations from Derby, Bridport and Scottsdale.
Community and Development Officer Rohan Willis said interest in the trade had significantly increased over the past 12 months.
“Council is supportive of mobile food vendor opportunities that will encourage food business diversity, local entrepreneurialism and a high standard of customer service delivery in food services,” he said.
The locations of operation included the trail head in Derby, the Derby Park, the Old Pier in Bridport, Northeast Park in Scottsdale and the Backpackers in Bridport opposite Trent Water.
Cr Mervyn Chilcott said he was pleased with the healthy discussion on the topic at a previous workshop.
“The area of most concern was Bridport, but I believe the locations proposed are far enough away from shops not to be detrimental to the situation,” he said.
Cr Dale Jessup said he supported the encouragement of business.
“We might need to tweak the policy in the future but it’s a good start,” he said.
Cr Wendy McLennan said she was concerned with the fact that the policy had no time restrictions on operation hours.
“I feel that the actual policy isn’t strong enough, I worry about hours of operation and I also worry about noise, I would like to defer this for further discussion,” she said.
Cr McLennan moved the motion to have the item deferred and it was supported unanimously by Councillors.
Mayor Greg Howard said they would now workshop the item again taking into accounts the recent letters by business owners and residents in Bridport.
“Bridport was the only location that we received hesitation from, we would clearly like to have some more discussions with business owners with the hope to address their concerns raised.”
It’s expected that Council will revisit their food van policy at the October meeting.