An ice cream vendor’s application to be allowed to trade at Bradley Stoke’s Willow Brook Centre has failed to impress Town Councillors.
G & J Ices has applied for street trading consent to operate from a pitch alongside the town’s new shopping centre.
When the application came before the July meeting of Bradley Stoke Town Council’s Planning Committee, Councillors voted to register an objection to:
… street trading at the Willow Brook Centre generally and this location in particular since it will interfere with taxis and those using the cash machines.
The matter is now likely to go before the Licensing Committee of South Gloucestershire Council, which has repsonsibility for issuing street trading consents in the area.
Scott Lahive, Manager of the Willow Brook Centre, gave The Journal the following comment:
G & J Ices are obviously disappointed with the objection. They are currently trading very successfully and are very popular with our customers. They do not interfere with customers using the cash point or waiting for a taxi, in fact they operate from a delivery point. The only objective is one which is inflexible and unsupportive to a local business person, as the centre and its land is privately owned we will look to accommodate G&J elsewhere within the scheme so that customers are not disappointed.
We have not used this van personally but it should be allowed. Kids need to have a real treat sometimes.
There’s nothing like buying a 99, ice cream with all the sauce etc on top, or a cider lolly from a van – gives it a bit of magic for little ones.