Decision Maker:

Outcome: Recommendations Approved

Is Key Decision?: No

Is Callable In?: No

Date of Decision: October 15, 2025

Purpose:

Content: 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:   Stalls to be positioned adjacent to 123-211 Chiswick High Road, Chiswick, London, W4 (the Chiswick Antiques & Vintage Market)     TO:     Jenny Titmuss, t/a Corky Events (“the Applicant”)    TAKE NOTICE THAT following a hearing before the Licensing and General Purposes Sub-Committee (“the Licensing Panel” or “Panel”)   ON 15th October 2025 the London Borough of Hounslow, as the relevant Licensing Authority,     RESOLVED as follows:   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, as amended (the “Act”).   2)         The application, which was shown at Appendix A of the Agenda pack, sought a temporary street trading licence for up to 64 market stalls adjacent to 123-211 Chiswick High Road, Chiswick, London, W4, as per the plan shown at page 14 of the Agenda, for the purposes of an Antiques & Vintage Market (the “Antiques Market”).  The Antiques Market was proposed to run between 9.00am to 3.00pm every 2nd Sunday of the month with a set up time from 7.00am and a final clear up time of 5.30pm.   3)         The Applicant had been operating the Antiques Market in Chiswick for 4 years through a series of temporary street trading licences, with the existing licence expiring on 17th October 2025.  A copy of the existing street trading licence was shown at pages 33-35 of the Agenda, which also contained a number of additional conditions, including conditions 11 and 12 stating that the stall on the East side of Devonshire Road and Chiswick High Road was to be removed from the licence and a requirement that the Licence holder was to ensure clearance of the market by 4.30pm.   4)         In the current application, the Applicant wanted to extend the market to include up to 64 stalls and to extend the clearance time to 5:30pm.   5)         During the consultation process, the Licensing Authority received 4 representations. There was one objection from a Ward Councillor, Councillor Biddolph, and 3 representations in support, one from another Ward Councillor, Councillor Gill, and two from people who operated stalls in the Antiques Market.   All parties were present at the hearing and gave oral representations to the Panel, including responses to questions posed to them from the Panel and others present.   6)         In making its decision, 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)         In addition to seeking a new licence, the main focus of the Applicant’s representations was to extend the time by which traders are required to clear up the market and to reinstate 2 pitches, which she was required to remove following the last hearing. These additional pitches were located in two areas, one on the eastern side of the junction between Chiswick High Road and Devonshire Road and another pitch on the eastern side of the junction between Chiswick High Road and Annandale Road.  In respect of the first matter, it was submitted that 1.5 hours was insufficient time for all of the traders to pack up and remove their stalls if they finished trading at 3.00 pm.  The Panel was informed that to clear the site by the current prescribed time of 4:30 pm meant that many traders had to close and start packing up between 2.00 pm – 3.00 pm. This meant they would lose valuable trading time as the Panel was told the biggest footfall in the market was between 12:00 pm and 3:00 pm.  The Panel was also informed that the 4:30 pm clearance time resulted in many of the traders moving their vehicles onto the site as soon as possible, and whilst other people were still on site and this was creating a safety issue. In relation to the two additional pitches that they wished to have, the Applicant told the Panel she had seen the same areas being used by other markets and did not see why they were being refused.   8)         With regard to the two market traders who resubmitted supporting representations, they also stated they required more time to clear up and remove their stalls, that the Antiques Market was very popular with customers and bringing in business from across London and that they have had very few complaints about the same or from people trying to travel through the market area.  One of the traders stated he was an elderly gentleman and that it took him more time to clear things away, and both traders also remarked that the items they sold included items that could be large, heavy or fragile which often meant further time was required to safely package these up before removing them from the site. They also stated that they thought the rush to clear up everything in time was also making the process less safe and more stressful than it needed to be.   9)         Councillor Gill, in support of the application, reiterated comments made by the others that the market brings a lot of business into the area and encourages people to go to Chiswick. He also considered that extra time was needed for the traders to pack up properly and that by attracting more people to Chiswick, some of those people may linger around and then use other shops and businesses in the area. He considered the market a success and that it should continue.   10)     In response to the Applicant’s representations, the Chair stated he had visited the market and had seen what appeared to be numerous breaches and issues of concern when he was there.  Some of these issues were also referred to in Councillor Biddolp’s objection and included the use of areas that had not been permitted under the current market plan and vehicles parked in cycleways and halfway on pavements whilst traders were clearing up at the end of the day. The Chair also noted one instance he observed of the footpath being entirely blocked, forcing pedestrians onto the road. These raised issues about the Applicant’s oversight of the market, compliance with existing licence conditions, enforcement of any breaches and ensuring the safety of those using the market and pedestrians and cyclists due to the actions of the stall holders.  In response to this, the Applicant stated she did not know about stall holders doing this and guessed that they might be parking illegally so as not to block the road or other cars coming into the market area to clear away their stalls. When asked by the Chair whether the Applicant was abrogating her responsibility she replied she was not and thought she might know one stall holder who was doing this and that she had seen four or five vehicles parking on the pavement but again she did not give any clear examples of how she was effectively supervising and managing the market or ensuring compliance with market conditions or the safety of the public.  She stated that she was assisted by one other person and they would walk up and down the market to ensure compliance.   11)     In response to questions as to witnessing some stallholders displaying wares outside of their store area, the Applicant said that this could be because they had a double pitch and had only placed a stall for one area and were displaying items in another permitted stall area.  Another explanation could be that the trader was using a gazebo that was smaller than the permitted 3x3 metre pitch area, allowing them to use their remaining allocated space to display goods.  When pressed on whether she had ever taken enforcement action, the Applicant stated she had excluded a trader in the past due to noncompliance.   12)     During questions from the objector to the Applicant, the Panel was informed that the photograph shown in her representation on page 36 of the Agenda was taken on 31st August 2025, and it was submitted that this showed items on display in an area that had not been permitted for use by the market. The Applicant stated she did not recall seeing this and that this could be an area where there was a double pitch, which was disputed by the objector. The Applicant stated that if she had seen someone acting in breach of the licence conditions, then she would ask them to move.   13)     In her representation, Councillor Biddolph stated she was concerned about the impact on pedestrians and their safety, feeling that the Antiques Market takes up more space than other markets with goods for sale taking up additional spaces than those permitted.  She said she had received complaints from wheelchair users and others who were having problems using the pavement area. She also believed that food businesses in the areas are the most affected by the Sunday markets as they also sell food, although she acknowledged that the Antiques Market had fewer food places than the others. She stated she was supportive of brick-and-mortar businesses and said that not all markets are universally supported by residents, with one of the additional issues being the loss of the car park space in which the primary part of the market is situated. She did not consider that the time for clearing up the market should be extended, nor the number of stalls permitted extended.       DECISION:   14)     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.   15)     Having considered all the written and oral representations by all parties, the Panel was supportive of the Antique Market in general and was minded to grant a licence, but had concerns about the Applicant’s management, supervision and enforcement of the Antiques Market and licence conditions.  It was said in support of the application to extend the clear-up time that there were safety issues, as other people were still in the area, and there were a large number of vehicles being driven in by the traders so they could clear up their stalls in time. However, these are matters the Applicant should be supervising and dealing with to ensure the safety of the public and traders. This requirement is also shown as condition 8 in her existing licence.    16)     The Panel could see the benefit of extending the clear-up time of the market to 5:30 pm to allow the traders more time to safely remove their goods and vacate the area. At the same time, the Panel was concerned by the Applicant’s apparent lack of knowledge of any substantive breaches witnessed by the Chair and reported by the objector, as well as a lack of any clear explanation of how market conditions were being enforced.  With the management and enforcement of the existing market licence in question, the Panel was not minded to add the additional 2 stalls that the Applicant had requested, those being one additional stall on the eastern side of the junction of Chiswick High Road and Devonshire Road, an one additional stall on the eastern side of the junction between Chiswick High Road and Annandale Road.  The Panel is sufficiently concerned by this as to require the Applicant to provide to the Licensing Authority a document setting out how she proposes to manage the market and ensure compliance with her temporary street trading licence within 28 days.   17)     With respect to the conditions on the existing licence that were attached by the previous licensing Panel, the Panel considered that several of these conditions should be maintained to ensure the safety and good management of the market.  These included conditions 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11.  Condition 12 of the current licence was also to be copied over, but amended to extend the clearance time from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm.  All such conditions are to be renumbered as appropriate in the new licence.   18)     A further condition was to be added requiring the Applicant to file with the Licensing Authority within 28 days a market management document setting out how she will be managing the market, supervising compliance with the licence conditions, the management of public safety (including illegal or unsafe parking by traders), and enforcement of any breaches of the licence terms.  For the avoidance of doubt, this document should also cover supervision and management of the building up and removal from the market stalls, not just the management of the Market during trading hours.   19)     The Panel has therefore decided to GRANT the application for a temporary street trading licence for a period of 6 months from 10/11/2025, for a maximum of 62 stalls in the locations shown in the plan to the Applicationshown at page 14,which will need to be amended to take account of the removal of the two indicated stalls, and with the following additional conditions:    1.    There shall be no stalls placed within the area of the Hogarth statue and the railingsassociated with the statue should not be used to display any merchandise.     2.    The standard Conditions allow a maximum width of any licensed area which shall not exceed one third of the useable width of the footpath. Furthermore, a minimum unobstructed footpath width of 1.8 metres must be left clear and available and free from obstruction to allow for safe and convenient pedestrian movement.     3.   Traders must at no time obstruct those businesses on Chiswick High Road who hold a pavement or temporary Street trading licence.     4.   The licence holder must always ensure any queues, or the serving of customers does not impact the adjacent pavement or any pedestrian crossing points in order to prevent obstruction and to maintain public safety. Queues should also not impact upon neighbouring premises and businesses.     5.   The ingress and egress routes must at no point be obstructed by the market for emergency services or utilities.     6.   The market holder must ensure the market operates in a safe and orderly manner and shall not do anything which may cause a danger, nuisance or annoyance, damage or inconvenience to the Council, any adjacent neighbouring premises or to any member of the public.     7.    The licence holder must ensure that all appropriate road closures are applied for and approved prior to the date of the market being held.     8.    All risk assessment and operational documents must be completed, approved, and reviewed regularly in conjunction with the London Borough of Hounslow events team to allow the market to take place.     9.    The stall on the East side of Devonshire Road and Chiswick High Road is to be removed from the licence.  The stall on the east side of Annandale Road and Chiswick High Road is also to be removed from the licence.     10.  The Licence holder must ensure clearance of the market by 5.30pm.    20)     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.