Here is a summary of the Taxi and General Sub Committee meeting scheduled for 11 September 2025. The meeting was convened to consider an application for a street trading consent. Councillors were expected to review the application, objections, and responses, and then determine whether to grant the consent.

Street Trading Consent Application

The Taxi and General Sub Committee were scheduled to consider a new street trading consent application submitted by Nathan Vaughan and Maryanne Benjamin, trading as 'Bit on the Side'. The proposed location for the street trading consent was at the side of 51 St Mary Street, Risca, next to Vaughan's Recycling and Risca Good Buy Shop.

The applicants sought consent to sell hot food from a temporary man-made food shack Monday to Saturday, 08:30-14:30 and 17:00-21:00, and Sunday between 10:00-14:00.

The report pack indicated that the council's licensing team had received several objections to the application, including one from the Environmental Health Pollution Team Officer. Other objections came from residents, Risca Town Council and an unnamed elected member.

Objections

The Environmental Health Pollution Officer, Abbie Brown, raised concerns that the location of the shack was likely to cause a nuisance to nearby residential properties due to:

• Emissions of odour
• Noise
• Litter
• Inadequate storage of commercial waste

Abbie Brown also noted that the proposed hours of operation, until 21:00, could cause regular disturbance to nearby residents and potentially lead to antisocial behaviour such as littering. Abbie Brown stated in Appendix 1 of the report pack that:

There is no information supplied to promote the prevention of public nuisance objective to minimise disturbance to the nearby residents.

Residents' objections, detailed in Appendix 2, included concerns about:

• Potential noise
• Pollution from cooking fumes
• The shack's proximity to residents' gardens
• Loss of enjoyment of gardens due to fear of food smells on clothes
• Street parking issues on Grove Road
• Increased traffic on a narrow residential street
• Disruption of traffic flow
• Proximity to a bus stop
• Lack of parking
• Litter
• Rodents
• Fire hazard
• Absence of waste bins

Risca Town Council's objections are reproduced in Appendix 3 of the report pack, and the comments from the unnamed elected member are in Appendix 4.

Applicant's Response

Nathan Vaughan and Maryanne Benjamin responded to the objections, offering to reduce their proposed hours of operation to Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 14:00 only, and to close on weekends. They also stated that parking, bins and rat control were general problems in Risca, and that they would provide more parking, bins and rat control than any other business in Risca.

Despite the applicants' revised hours, Abbie Brown maintained her objection based on the prevention of public nuisance.

Council Policy

The report pack referenced the council's street trading policy, which aims to protect the public by promoting the:

• Prevention of crime
• Prevention of public disorder and anti-social behaviour
• Prevention of public nuisance
• Promotion of public safety
• Protection of local amenity

Paragraph 15.2 of the street trading policy states that officers will consider each application on its merits, with particular consideration given to observations from Environmental Health officers regarding the prevention of public nuisance and public safety.

Recommendation

The Acting Director of Environment and Regulatory Services recommended that the Taxi and General Sub Committee refuse the application for a street trading consent. The report stated that the Environmental Health Pollution Team Officer believed that the location of the food outlet was likely to cause a nuisance to residential properties due to odour, noise, litter, and inadequate waste storage. The report noted that this position was supported by residents, the Town Council, and the unnamed elected member.