Agenda and minutes

None received.

None.

Councillor Dave Poyser declared an interest in agenda item B1 – Application to designate an area of the highway on the footway outside 2 Highbury place, N5 1QZ, for street trading purposes – as a member of the Highbury Fields Association.

RESOLVED: 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 18 July 2016 be confirmed as a correct record and the Chair be authorised to sign them.  

The Street Trading Manager reported that temporary trading was occasionally permitted at particular locations, before a street was officially designated for street trading purposes.  This could be on application from the public, or a Council department.  A 28-day consultation would take place, with an advert in the local press inviting comments on applications. In this particular case, consultation had ended on 31 October 2016.

The Street Trading Officer then reported that the Street Trading Team had been dealing with illegal street trading outside Barclays Bank at 2 Highbury Corner for a couple of years.  This type of activity had encouraged other anti-social behaviour in the vicinity, such as begging and homeless sleeping.  In addition, promotional companies had been setting up without permission opposite the entrance to Highbury and Islington Station, causing congestion. As an experiment to address the anti-social behaviour, temporary licensed promotions were permitted outside the bank at 2 Highbury Place to encourage the unlicensed promotional companies away from the entrance to the Station. The experiment had been successful in reducing some of the anti-social behaviour problems and had created a “feel good” factor for residents and commuters who received free promotional gifts from the companies. The relocation to 2 Highbury Place had also helped to reduce the congestion caused outside the entrance to Highbury and Islington Station.

The plan was to designate an area 2.5 x 2.5m at 2 Highbury Place for a pitch, leaving sufficient footway outside Barclays Bank for pedestrians.  There had been great demand from companies to use the space.  The Street Trading Team were keen to put an end to the obstructions being caused by the promotional companies and to control their activities and to earn revenue for the Council in the process.  If these temporary sites were successful, it was anticipated that they would be rolled out to other suitable pitches across the Borough.

In response to questions from members, the Street Trading Officer stated that it was not possible to monitor what was there any more effectively, due to a lack of staffing, and that, during the experimental phase, companies using the space had been charged only £15 per day, though the charge could be increased for larger companies.  It was noted that fees would be invested directly into the ringfenced street trading account. If the Committee agreed to designate the site at 2 Highbury Corner for street trading purposes, there would be no trading permitted on Arsenal match days.  It was anticipated that trading would be permitted from Thursday to Saturday at 2 Highbury Corner.

The Street Trading Manager reported that her Team received many enquiries about the availability of trading pitches in the Borough. Hot take away goods usually meant an increase in street litter, so a balance would need to be struck about the type of goods on offer at this pitch. 

At 4.20pm, the Committee left the room for deliberation and returned to the Committee room at 4.45pm, to ask questions about the timescale for the completion of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.