Decision

Notification of decision following a Licensing Panel hearing to determine an application for a Temporary Street Trading Licence pursuant to the London Local Authorities Act 1990, as amended

TO:     

Healthy Bite Chiswick Limited (the “Applicant”) 

SITE: 

Positioned on the public highway in front of 253 Chiswick High Road, Chiswick (the “Site”)

TAKE NOTICE THAT following a hearing before the Licensing and General Purposes Sub Committee (“the Licensing Panel” or “Panel”) on 8th July 2026 the London Borough of Hounslow, as the relevant Licensing Authority, RESOLVED as follows

That the application for a Temporary Street Trading Licence for a period of 6 months commencing from 13 July 2026 is GRANTED with the following conditions in addition to the Council’s usual standard temporary street trading conditions:

Additional conditions:

1. The licence holder is to use environmentally friendly packaging for any food and drinks sold at the stall.
2. The licence holder is to cooperate with the Neighbourhood Policing Team.
3. All propane cylinders will be stored in a suitable, locked & secure, and well-ventilated compound.

Reasons

1)        The Licensing Panel convened in person to determine an application for the grant of a Temporary Street Trading Licence made pursuant to section 31 of the London Local Authorities Act 1990, as amended (the “Act”).

2)        The application, shown at Appendix A to the Agenda, sought a 6-month Temporary Street Trading Licence for the Site (as defined above and further marked out on page 12 of the Agenda pack) measuring 3m wide and 2m deep, which is located in the area in front of a shop at 253 Chiswick High Road, Chiswick, from which the Applicant intended to sell hot food.  The licence was to operate from Monday to Sunday between 10:00 hours and 16:00 hours.  The Applicant was seeking to sell different types of wraps, vegetables, salads, soups, juices and soft drinks, and already had a Temporary Street Trading Licence for the Site, which was due to expire on 12 July 2026. 

3)        During the consultation period two objections were received and are shown in Appendix C of the Agenda papers.  In summary, they expressed concern that allowing the stall to continue operating for the hours sought would amount to unfair competition to local bricks and mortar shops who had larger overheads to maintain and the stall would take away business from them. Concerns were also raised about obstruction of the public highway, the use of LPG powered equipment, waste management and over concentration of places offering food.

4)        An earlier objection by the Planning Team was withdrawn and was not considered by the Panel.

5)        At the hearing the Applicant was represented by Mr Feras Mawas and Mr Fadaa Barakat   Councillor Biddolph appeared on behalf of one of the objectors, and the other objector, who runs a nearby shop, was not in attendance.

6)        The Licensing Panel carefully considered all the relevant information including:

-    Written and oral representations submitted by all the parties

-    Oral representations made by the parties during the licensing Panel hearing

-    The London Local Authorities Act 1990 as amended (“the Act”)

-    Hounslow Council’s Street Trading Policy (“the Policy”)

-    The Human Rights Act 1998

7)        The Act provides the Council with a measure of discretion when deciding whether to issue a Temporary Street Trading Licence and the Policy provides for all applications to consider various issues as set out therein, which include consideration of public safety, prevention of crime and disorder, prevention of public nuisance, the appearance and suitability of the stall/vehicle and environmental credentials. The Policy also requires applications to consider the needs of the area, this being the demand for the articles for sale and the geographical location of the proposed Site.

8)        In making its decision to grant the licence with the additional conditions, the Panel noted that the Applicant  had been operating from the Site since 2019, and that the previous temporary licence, shown at Appendix A1, included additional conditions regarding packaging, safe storage of any propane cylinders and cooperation with the Neighbourhood Policing Team.  The Applicant confirmed they were happy for these conditions to remain on their licence.

9)        The Panel appreciated the concerns raised by the objectors, however from the representations made to the Panel it did not appear that the Applicant was selling a wide array of food items and therefore any competition would be limited in scope compared to the wider offerings that nearby shops could offer. One of the reasons for the restricted menu appeared to be a lack of refrigeration equipment, meaning items had to be brought in in cold storage boxes.

10)    The Panel noted the objectors' concerns regarding competition from a street trader operating with lower overhead costs than nearby fixed premises. The Panel considered those concerns carefully. However, the Panel also noted that the Applicant had traded from the Site since 2019, that the range of products offered was relatively limited, and that the Policy does not require the protection of existing businesses from all forms of competition. The Panel was not satisfied that the evidence before it demonstrated such a level of adverse impact on nearby businesses as to justify refusal of the application or a reduction in trading hours

11)    The Panel took on board comments from one of the objectors, which was further reiterated by Councillor Biddolph, that if the Panel was minded to grant the licence then it should reduce the permitted hours so that the Applicant could not operate during the lunchtime period in order to protect the lunchtime business for nearby bricks and mortar businesses.  For their part, the Applicant stated that they did not sell the same competing goods, which the Panel did not take to mean that no nearby businesses also sold wraps, but that they did not sell the same type of wraps that the Applicant had been selling and wanted to continue selling.

12)    Whilst the Panel noted the presence of nearby food businesses, it was not satisfied that there were sufficient grounds under the Policy or the Act to conclude that the application should be refused on that basis

13)    On balance, the Panel was not persuaded to reduce the trading hours for the Applicant, who also informed the Panel that they tended to start setting up around 11:00 and begin closing around 15:00.

14)    Further to questioning, the Applicant also confirmed they had a contract with Lampton Services for their waste disposal, which collected their waste daily, and their stall is checked by the food safety team.

15)    With regard to the issue of obstruction of the public highway, the photographs provided in the Agenda appeared to show sufficient foot space for pedestrians and the standard conditions require a minimum unobstructed footpath of 1.8 metres to allow for safe and convenient pedestrian movement.

16)    After considering all matters, the Panel therefore decided to GRANT the Temporary Street Trading Licence, for the hours 10:00 to 16:00 Monday to Sunday, with the standard temporary street trading conditions and the three additional conditions contained in the current licence.

17)    There is no right of appeal by any party in relation to the determination in respect of a temporary street trading application. The decision of the Panel is therefore final.