Calls to review 'food truck' trading licences for this Kildare village

A Fine Gael councillor has called for a review of trading licences for food trucks in Leixlip Village, Co Kildare, where currently only temporary licences are in place, making it “less appealing” to traders.

Speaking on his motion at a Celbridge-Leixlip MD meeting on Friday May 16, Cllr Paul Brooks said he appreciated the amount of “time and effort” afforded by the council on the issue back in 2022, when careful consideration was given to trading in Leixlip.

READ NEXT: No current plans for Kildare hotel to house IPAS applicants, council states

However, he noted, “time and requirements do change”, and he stressed that his motion was not about interfering with parking in Leixlip.

He said his motion stemmed from the success of the market which had been established in the church grounds, and his idea was to allow other traders to come into that given area and build on the “momentum” of activity occurring in Leixlip Village on weekends.

What he was looking for was the extension of licences, he said, which currently only covered the summer period for traders, and there didn't seem to be uptake on the licences currently due to this fact.

He said that perhaps new regulations would appeal to casual traders, whether it was for the provision of food or other casual trading, if they were extended and allowed weekend trading over a longer period of time.

A report issued by the council stated that the current Casual Trading Bye Laws were adopted by the members in June 2022, when members adopted a seasonal restriction to trading at the location.

The report noted there were other factors which may restrict interest in the trading location, such as access issues for food trucks as opposed to a food cart.

The location was “further complicated” by the fact that part of the area needs to be left accessible to a fire tender in the event of an emergency, the report added.

The members, at the time of making the bye laws, did not wish to suspend parking spaces at the adjacent public car park in order to create larger and more permanent casual trading spaces.

This could be changed, the report stated, but would require a public consultation period of six weeks, followed by an appeal period of four weeks before any new bye law could come into effect.

The report added: “Given that Parking Bye Laws apply to the public car park, a separate statutory process would also be applicable under those Bye Laws, to suspend or temporarily remove spaces, to create a trading area, if the members wished to proceed in this manner.”

The council concluded by stating that an update on public realm for the area would be given in the June Municipal District meeting.