Agenda item

The Committee were joined by Christina Williams representing Usk Town Council for this item.

Context

To consider an application for a Block Street Trading Consent to trade in Usk

Town Centre.

Key Issues

An application was received on 22nd February 2018 from Tracey Huxley, on behalf of Usk Town Council for Usk Town Centre, which is attached to this report as Appendix A. The application request is to trade on Sunday to Thursday between the hours of 09:00hrs until 18:00hrs and Friday to Saturday between the hours of 09.00hrs until 23.00hrs. The location and number of pitches requested in the application form for Usk Town Centre are as follows:-

 Twyn Square, Usk – Subject to road closure (2 pitches)

 New Market Street, Usk (4 pitches)

 Bridge Street, Usk (4 pitches)

 Twyn Square Car Park, Usk (12 pitches)

 Owain Glyndwr Field, Maryport Street, Usk (10 pitches)

 Maryport Street, Usk – park area next to number 3 (2 pitches)

 Sitting Area Outside Coop (2 pitches)

 Legion Car Park, New Market Street, Usk (2 pitches)

 Conigar, riverbank next to Usk Bridge (4 pitches)

The total pitches requested for Usk Town Centre is 42 pitches.

The applicant has further stated that if the consent is granted they will ensure pitch holders will comply with the Council’s conditions for the consent. The applicant has stated within Section 2 of the application form that each person requesting a pitch will be required to complete an “Application for a Day Market Pitch”, which will be issued by Usk Town Council.

A Block Street Trading Consent was previously granted by the Licensing and

Regulatory Committee on 3rd May 2016 for Usk Town Centre, to a different organisation, who subsequently surrendered the Consent on 14th November 2017. The changes to this application as opposed to the previous consent granted are as follows:

OwainGlyndwyr Field, Maryport Street Usk – 10 pitches (previously 2 pitches)

Car Park in Twyn Square, no longer required (Previously 18 pitches)

Number of pitches 42 pitches (previously 52 pitches)

The application was forwarded to the consultees (Appendix A), these being

Heddlu Gwent Police, Monmouthshire Planning Department, Monmouthshire

Environmental Health Department and the Local Ward Member. No objections were received on this application.

Section 13 of the Street Trading Policy adopted by this Authority on 9th February 2016 states;

An Authorised Officer will approve the application if it:-

 Meets the criteria and

 There are no reasonable and appropriate objections.

And further states, “Except where objections are received for safety reasons the Head of Public Protection can determine the application or defer the matter to the Licensing and Regulatory Committee.”

The Head of Public Protection has decided in this instance to defer the matter to the Licensing and Regulatory Committee for a decision, due to the application being a new application for a permanent consent, which will include a number of pitches with wider potential impact.

Under Schedule 4 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 Part III there is no right of appeal against the refusal to grant or renew a consent or against the revocation or variation of a consent.

As there is no statutory right of appeal the applicant has the right to seek judicial review. As a judicial review is largely about the decision making process, it is difficult to see how any judicial review application could be made, when the applicant understands the reasons for the Members decision. If reasons are not given then there is de facto denial of judicial review.

A District Council are under no duty to grant a street trading consent and need not specify statutory grounds for refusal. However in the case of R v The Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London ex parte Matson, the Court highlighted the need for decision makers to give reasons in the interests of fairness and to enable judicial review proceedings to become available.

Members Comments

In regard to the key issues Town Councillor C. Williams stated that the 12 pitches in Twyn Square is required. The Councillor advised the committee that Usk Town Council would like to be charge to ensure everything goes well for Usk.

A Member of the Committee asked if annual block trading was available throughout the County.

It was asked if Police and Environmental Health Team had any objections to the application.

In regard to Twyn Square, clarification was sought on the proposed layout of stalls.

A Member praised the application as anything done to encourage trade to our towns was felt to be a positive move. The frequency of events was questioned.

Members of the Committee look forward to receiving feedback on the success of the project.

Members of the Committee unanimously agreed to the recommendation to consider and determine the application form attached to the report as

Appendix A.