Lambeth are setting out some of their plans for the rest of this year, including rebranding Brixton market, and Street Trading.
This month they welcome a new Street Trading Liaison Officer: Oladayo Bello has worked in Lambeth, latterly in the South Bank area, and before joining the borough, gained extensive experience in Markets and Street Trading.
Oladayo will aim to invigorate Brixton market, attracting new traders and revitalising the space. Lambeth will also be renewing their relationships with operators, rolling out a new market in Stockwell, and exploring the adoption of the Food Act.
Lambeth are also working on Street Trading web pages on the Council website – to offer more information for traders and shoppers. The new look pages are due to come on stream by October.
License Renewals
Renewal applications and supporting documentation, are still awaited from some traders directly licensed by the Council.
If you haven’t yet submitted a renewal application; were told your application was incomplete, as you hadn’t supplied the required documents; and/or haven’t got back in touch, you have until Monday 26th July at 5pm at the latest to submit your fully completed renewal application. Together with copies of all of the required documents and photos to street-trading@lambeth.gov.uk.
If you don’t renew your licence you won’t be able to trade, and if you do trade, will be ordered to cease trading on the spot, and risk a fine and/or prosecution.
New Approach to Compliance
There are no longer dedicated Market Officers dealing with day to day matters. Instead, regular compliance visits will be undertaken by officers in the Council’s Public Protection team, who will cover the borough seven days a week.
They will refer to current licences and information on Lambeth systems – so it’s essential that you have a valid licence in place and that you make sure you comply at all times with all aspects of your licence and your associated conditions.
Who’s on your pitch?
Traders directly licensed by the Council have to comply with their conditions. As well as the requirements around pitch dimensions and paying fees.
This also includes:
- The licence holder whose name is on the licence being present on the pitch for the majority (at least 60%) of the trading day.
- The pitch can’t be ‘sub-let’ or left to assistants to run.
- All Assistants working on a pitch have to be registered with the Council – no-one else is allowed to.
- From August anyone that works on a pitch who’s not registered with the Council will be ordered to leave, and, if the licence holder isn’t present, to pack up and cease trading.
- Repeat compliance visits which show the trader isn’t around or where unregistered assistants are
working will result in revocation action. - If you want to take a holiday (maximum six weeks a year) you’ll need to inform street trading in advance. Pitch fees are still payable for the holiday period.
- If you are unwell, contact street trading as soon as you can, supplying relevant medical certificates.
- If you are no longer able to work on your pitch let us know ASAP.
Contact Street Trading at street-trading@lambeth.gov.uk
Fees & Charges
The full and timely payment of fees and charges is required by law. All traders and market operators are expected to pay the fees that are due – while some street trading accounts are up to date, the level of debt in other cases is excessive, and as a result the first round of licence revocations is underway.
That means that sadly some traders will be lost due to their ongoing non-payment of fees. It’s important to note that any outstanding debt still needs to be paid back, even if you cease trading.
Contact the Council’s Finance team at ftsar@lambeth.gov.uk to arrange payment by instalment, or if you think there are any errors on your account.
Pitch Perfect
The street trading licence sets out the permitted pitch dimensions. There is a 50cm tolerance at the front of the pitch only (not the sides or back) so the maximum space taken up for a single pitch if you are directly licensed by the Council is:
- Length: 2.74m
- Width: 2.18m (plus tolerance of 50cm at the front of the pitch)
- Height: 3.05m
This is your total trading space to cover your receptacle/ display, storage, your waste, and where you stand or sit. If you overpitch:
- You are in breach of your licence conditions and risk enforcement – including being issued with a fixed penalty notice; and/ or losing your licence;
- In addition your insurance may be invalidated.
Useful Contacts:
- Street cleaning
- Report anti-social behaviour
- Parking
- Street trading fees: fts-ar@lambeth.gov.uk
To read the full newsletter, get further information on the rebranding of Markets and Street Trading in Lambeth or for any street trading queries, please contact street-trading@lambeth.gov.uk.