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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
 

SITE:           
A stall to be positioned on the public highway adjacent to 81
Chiswick High Road, Chiswick, W4 2EF
 
TO:
            
Mr Fakhri Shaban Yussif Eid
(“the Applicant”)
  
TAKE NOTICE THAT
following a hearing before the Licensing and General
Purposes Sub-Committee (“the Licensing Panel” or
“Panel”)
 
ON 9 November
2023 The London Borough Of
Hounslow, as the relevant Licensing
Authority
 
 
RESOLVED:  That the application for
a stall to be positioned on the public highway adjacent to 81
Chiswick High Road, Chiswick W4 2EF is REFUSED.
 
REASONS:
 
1.         
The Licensing Panel convened to determine an
application in respect of the grant of a temporary street trading
licence made pursuant to section 31 of the London Local Authorities
Act 1990 (the “1990 Act”) in
respect of an application for a stall to be
positioned on the public highway adjacent to 81 Chiswick High
Road, Chiswick W4 2EF (the
“Site”).  A full copy
of the application with a plan and photos of the proposed location
is shown as Appendix C, with an email from Ciarán, from
Traffic and Transport, giving consent to the use of the public
highway for this market on the dates and times requested attached
as Appendix C.  An email from the
Planning Department stating that the Applicant would require
planning permission is attached as Appendix A
 
2.         
The application seeks to authorise the Applicant to
run a stall on the public highway to be open from Monday to
Saturday for a six-month period. The proposed site would be
adjacent to 81 Chiswick High Road, Chiswick W4 2EF.  The application
is for a stall and the proposed hours of business would be from
10:00 AM until 5:00 PM.
 
3.         
The Licensing Panel carefully considered all the
relevant information including:
 
-     Written
representations submitted by all the parties
-
    Oral representations made
by the parties during the licensing panel hearing
-     The London Local
Authorities Act 1990 (“the Act”) and the steps
appropriate to promote the Licensing Objectives
-     Hounslow
Council’s Street Trading Policy (“the
Policy”)
-     The Human Rights
Act 1998
 

4.         
Following the consultation the Council received six
representations, two from local councillors and four from other
persons against the application.  
They are attached as Appendix D.
 

5.         
Mr Mohammed Eid (“Mr Eid”) on
behalf of the Applicant company was in attendance.  Councillor Todd and Councillor Biddolph and three of the other objectors were also
present.
 

6.         
Mr Eid said during the presentation of the Report by
the Licensing officer that the Applicant was now seeking to run the
street food stall from 10:00am to 5:00pm on Monday to Friday and
that the Applicant was no longer seeking to run the street food
stall on Saturdays.
 

7.         
Mr Eid said that the Applicant wanted to run a
street food stall on the Site and that there would be no smell as
falafel was vegetarian and that there would be no spice used and
the Applicant would be looking to fry falafel roughly every two
hours.  He said that the Site was a
large area and that the Applicant had obtained permission from
Traffic and Transport and that the stall would not be obstructing
access to the shops that were there. 
The Applicant was looking to sell falafel, salad and soft drinks.
 

8.         
During questioning the Applicant’s
representative was asked about the plan the Applicant had produced
and the location of the stall.  The
Applicant’s representative confirmed that the Applicant had
not obtained planning permission.  He
said that it did not matter whether the Applicant left the trailer
on the Site every night or if he moved it.  He advised that the Applicant did not have a
generator and that the Applicant would be asking the Council to
provide electricity to power the trailer.
 

9.         
The Applicant’s representative was also asked
about whether the Applicant had obtained a waste contract and the
Applicant’s representative said that he had provided the
licensing officer with a copy of the contract by email.  The Licensing Officer advised that she had not
seen a copy of the waste contract.
 
 

10.     
Under the Policy, the Panel will consider factors
such as public safety, prevention of crime disorder, the prevention
of public nuisance, the appearance and suitability of the stall or
vehicle, the needs of the area, environmental credentials, food
traders, highway and the any history of the applicant.   There were questions from the objector about
the need for a falafel stall in the area.   The Applicant’s representatove stated that the nearest falafel
stall was in Fulham and that there was plenty of space in the area
for his stall and for people to pass by.
 

11.     
The objections to the application raise several
points, but the main issue was that they were concerned about the
location of the stall in an area where there was insufficient space
for the stall and how it would interfere with the existing bricks
and mortar businesses and drive customers away.  In principle the objectors were not against the
idea of a stall in another part of Chiswick or for there to be say
a one off day for a Christmas stall but
not for a stall to be there every day.  
 
DECISION:
 

12.   
The matter of temporary street trading licences for
a London Local Authority is set out in section 31 of the 1990 Act,
which states that:
 

(1)      
A borough council may if they think fit on the
receipt from any person of an application for that purpose and
accompanied by the appropriate fee grant to that person a temporary
licence.

(1A) A council may grant a temporary licence in any
street, whether or not it is a licensed
street.

(1B) In the case of an application for a temporary
licence which, if granted, would authorise street trading on land
which falls within paragraph (b) in the definition of
“street” in subsection (1) of section 21
(interpretation of Part III) of this Act, the applicant shall
provide evidence in writing–
(a) that
he has the consent to trade on the land from the owner of the land
in question; or
(b) that
he is the owner of the land in question.
 

(1C)An application for a temporary licence shall not
be granted, if the licence would authorise street trading on land
which falls within the said paragraph (b), unless the applicant has
provided sufficient evidence, as is mentioned in subsection (2A) of
section 25 (application for street trading licence) of this Act, to
satisfy the council.
…..
 

(2)    A temporary
licence shall be valid only for the day or period specified in the
licence and–
(a) shall
be in the like form as a street trading licence with such
modifications therein as the circumstances require; and
(b) shall
prescribe such conditions as the borough council deem
appropriate.
…
 

13.   
Section 21(1) of the 1990 Act defines
“street” and “street trading” as
follows:
 
“street” includes–
(a) any
road or footway;
(b) any
other area, not being within permanently enclosed premises, within
7 metres of any road or footway to which the public obtain access
without payment–
(i) whether or not they need the
consent of the owner or occupier; and
(ii) if
they do, whether or not they have obtained it;
(c) any
part of such road, footway or area;
(d) any
part of any housing development provided or maintained by a local
authority under Part II of the Housing Act 1985 (c. 68);
 

14.   
Section 25(4)(b) of the 1990 Act provides that a
licence:
 
shall
not be granted unless the borough council are satisfied that there
is enough space in the street for the applicant to engage in the
trading in which he desires to engage without causing undue
interference or inconvenience to persons or vehicular traffic using
the street.
 

15.   
Therefore, the legislation provides the Local
Authority a measure of discretion when deciding whether to issue a
temporary street trading licence.  
Furthermore, its 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.
 

16.   
Taking all matters into account the Panel has
decided to REFUSE the temporary street trading licence
application.  The Applicant had neither
sought nor obtained planning permission for the stall, which is a
necessary pre-requisite, and the map attached to the application
was not in compliance with the Policy. 
There were also a number of
contradictions between what the Applicant had written in the
application and what the Applicant’s representative had said
at the hearing.  As a  consequence of this
the Panel did not feel confident that if a Licence was granted that
the conditions of the Licence would be adhered to.  The Panel also felt that the Site was an
unsuitable location for a hot food stall and were not satisfied
that there was enough space for the Applicant to engage in the
trading in which he desired to engage without causing undue
interference or inconvenience to persons or vehicular traffic using
the street.
 

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.