Decision

To exclude the public during consideration of the following items which involved consideration of exempt information relating to the financial or business affairs of particular persons, and public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

The report of the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing is enclosed.

The Hearing Panel considered a report from the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing regarding an application for street trader licence at the above location. The written papers and oral representations of the parties who attended the hearing were also considered, as well as the relevant legislation. The hearing as conducted in line with the established procedure for such hearings.

The Licensing officer provided an update to the panel that this application was for a Street Trader Licence and not a Street Trader Consent as the report had originally stated. The Licensing officer gave a summary of the application, including the hours applied for and refreshments that the trader intended to sell. The Licensing Officer also gave a summary of the objection received from Licensing Out of Hours (LOOH).

The applicant addressed the Hearing Panel, noting that they would never enter the site via the tram lines, but would use the loading bay nearby. They would take care regarding pedestrians using the pavement, entering the space slowly. They accepted that the area would need to be clear for the vehicle to enter and leave the site safely.

In questions from LOOH, the applicant stated that when entering and leaving the site, there would be a person outside the vehicle directing the driver. When previously working at this site, the applicant had used the same entry point to get their vehicle there. They would take every precaution to avoid damage to the public highway. The applicant had worked from the site for a company. The management of Piccadilly Place asked them to set up their own trading vehicle on the site, which the applicant did but without a licence as they were unaware of the need for one.

In questions from the panel, the applicant stated that there is always security on site to assist with the vehicle entering and exiting. The applicant had traded at the site previously for around 8 months, using the same method of entering and exiting the site as suggested in the application. The vehicle they had previously traded from traded at the same location as applied for.

LOOH addressed the Hearing Panel, stating that they had assessed the impact of the grant of this application considering several factors, including the nature of the area in which the catering trailer was to be located, the hours applied for and any potential risk the granting of this Street Trading Licence could lead to issues of Public Nuisance and Public Safety.

The applicant proposed to trade within Piccadilly Place Square, within the Village area of Manchester City Centre. There are two routes that a vehicle could use to access the site with neither being suitable or safe.

Access point 1 would be via Aytoun Street. Any vehicle accessing from this direction would not be safe and would contravene traffic regulations by passing onto and over tram lines, where all vehicles are prohibited to access.

Access point 2 would also be via Aytoun Street near its junction with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 120.