Green light for late-night food stalls
The City of Perth wants to liven up city laneways and public spaces by encouraging mobile food and drink stalls to open day and night, throughout the week.
The council last night voted to approve a set of new principles to guide a review of local laws that may lead to an elimination of costs and remove red tape for public traders - anyone selling or hiring goods or services in a public space such as mobile food and beverage vendors, people conducting group fitness classes and those distributing advertising flyers.
Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi said the current public trading law, where strict regulations applied, needed to be updated to better align with the goal to create a more vibrant, 24-hour centre.
Ms Scaffidi said she would like to see more food vendors activating "forgotten areas" in the city, provided they were not in direct competition with other rate-paying businesses.
She said the success of the Twilight Hawkers Markets on Fridays during summer proved established businesses were supportive of such activity.
Paul Bardetta, who operates mobile food stall Simply Paella, said he would definitely open more often if the public trading law was relaxed.
"You just need to take one look at the thousands who come here every Friday night to see there is a demand for this sort of thing," he said.
Andrew Kowala, who runs a doughnut van at the markets, said he had been campaigning for years to trade through the week.
