Taste of Palestine Falafel Stall Fails to Get Licence
Panel refuses bid due to lack of planning permission
The location of the planned pitch. Picture: Google Streetview
November 16, 2023
An application to get a temporary street trading licence for a falafel stall at the corner of Chiswick Lane and Chiswick High Road has been refused.
The borough Licensing Panel met on 9 November to discuss the bid by the Taste of Palestine owner to operate adjacent to 81 Chiswick High Road.
The original application was to run the stall from 10am to 5pm Monday to Saturday but subsequently the applicant, Mr Fakhri Shaban Yussif Eid, said that he was no longer intending to trade on Saturdays.
The request had attracted opposition from residents, shops and cafes nearby and two local councillors. Cllr John Todd argued that giving permission to the stall would be particularly unfair on the My Place Café which had recently made a significant investment in refurbishing its premises.
Councillor Todd, Councillor Joanna Biddolph and three of the objectors were present as well as a representative of the applicant.
He told the panel that residents’ concerns about cooking smells from the stall were unfounded because falafel was a vegetarian food. He added that the site was a large area and permission from the borough’s Traffic and Transport department, who accepted that the stall would not obstruct access to the shops nearby.
During further questioning the applicant’s representative confirmed that planning permission had not been obtained for the stall and that Mr Eid did not possess a generator so would be asking the council to provide electricity for the trailer. It was claimed that a waste contract had been obtained for the stall, but the Licensing Officer said she had not seen a copy.
The main issues raised by the objectors were the location of the stall in an area where they said there was insufficient space and how it would interfere with the existing bricks and mortar businesses and drive customers away. In principle the objectors were not against the idea of a stall in another part of Chiswick or for there to be, for instance, a one-off day for a Christmas stall but not for a stall to be there every day.
Having heard the submissions the Panel decided to refuse the application saying that planning permission was a necessary pre-requisite, and the map attached to the application was not in compliance with the Policy. It was added that were a number of contradictions between what the Applicant had written in the application and what the Applicant’s representative had said at the hearing. The Panel also felt that the Site was an unsuitable location for a hot food stall and were not satisfied that there was enough space for the stall.
There is no right of appeal to a determination of a temporary street trading application.
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