Greenwich Council is facing yet more costs in a row over its ice cream vending policy which has already cost taxpayers hundreds and thousands. The south London authority has been told by a court to review part of its policy and redo a public consultation on proposals to ban ice cream sales in King William Walk, next to Greenwich Park.
The site was on a list of streets banning itinerant ice cream trading as part of a policy approved at a council meeting in December 2023. Paul St Hilaire Sr challenged the council’s decision in court, claiming he has traded in the area for over 30 year.
The council, meanwhile, argued the site was unsuitable for ice cream sales given its “sensitive location” on a world heritage site. But District Judge Sarah Turnock considered the appeal on the grounds that the decision was not legally sound and has subsequently ordered the council to re-look at some of its policy and re-run the public consultation due to legal breaches in the process.
Paul St Hilaire Jr, speaking on behalf of his father, told the LDRS: “Whilst we welcome the council’s decision to comply with yet another court order, it is disappointing that a court order is required at great public expense. The council approves a royal order. The museum’s ice cream truck to generate revenue, but over the previous decade has gone to great lengths and staggering public expense to prevent my father from trading legally.”
The appeal was heard on August 15 last year at Bromley Magistrates’ Court but the decision was not made public. The council decided on Friday (January 3) that it would do what the court ordered – to rerun the consultation and review the street which is banned in its policy.
What did the council do wrong?
The court noted that the council had breached the legislation by not including a draft of the new policy with the proposed street names listed in full in a public notice in advance. The judge said these shortcomings caused some prejudice to St Hilaire because he was not made aware of the details of the new policy. She added that it appeared St Hilaire’s written and oral representations at council meetings had not been considered by the authority.
Court documents seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) from February 2015 showed Woolwich Crown Court ordered Greenwich Council to grant St Hilaire a street trading license for King William Walk, proving he had been trading there for years, seemingly without problem.
While the council claims that queues of people wanting ice cream could create a hazard on King William Walk, Freedom of Information (FoI) requests by LDRS revealed that Royal Museums Greenwich had objected to another ice cream shop operating nearby, fearing it would would affect operations in the museum’s café.
Further FOI requests revealed that the agency had spent over £52,000 in legal costs on the case. With the court’s decision, it means more public money will be spent on the issue.
Mr St Hilaire Sr previously told LDRS that selling ice cream was his main means of supporting his seven children. A spokesperson for Greenwich Council said the narrow pavements on King William Walk can be blocked by queues from ice cream vendors, affecting pedestrians such as the elderly, disabled and those with prams.
The judge ruled that ice cream trading on King William Walk remained banned until a new decision was made, with a statutory consultation on the proposal running until February 3. An updated report on the forbidden street is expected to be presented to the government in March.
A spokesperson for Greenwich Council told LDRS: “Ice cream vans have never been banned from the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Itinerant ice cream vans, the kind that move from place to place, can trade from hundreds of roads in our borough without a licence. for 15 minutes at a time, and it still is.”
They added: “The council wants to support street trading across the borough, while ensuring that it is well managed and we deliver on our commitment to creating a cleaner, greener Royal Greenwich. We welcome the fact that the District Judge has confirmed that the adoption of our renewed street trading policy and designation of streets for street trading is legal.
“We will be re-running a small part of the consultation on the proposal to ban itinerant ice cream vendors on King William Walk, as requested in the District Judge’s decision. We welcome feedback from traders, residents and other local community members.”
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