Thatcham Town Council objects to kebab van application

Concerns raised about impact on traders and parking spaces

KEBAB vans have no place in Thatcham during normal retail trading hours, town councillors have said.

Objections came in response to the kebab van at the northern end of the Broadway, Caner Kebabs, applying to open earlier in the evening.

The van, which parks near the public toilets, runs from 6pm until midnight on Monday to Thursday and Sundays, and from 6pm until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays.

Caner Kebabs has applied to start serving from 4pm or 5pm as part of its licence renewal.

Discussing the request at planning and environment committee on February 9, Simon Pike (Lib Dem, Thatcham West) said that the vans obstructed the road when waiting for parking spaces in the Broadway.

He said: “I have a feeling that if we move the time forward then the car park will be busier and they will be waiting for longer.

“There is my concern about the way that they wait on the road for the spaces to emerge and that is more likely to be a problem at 4pm than at 6pm.

“If this change is made for this kebab van I’m sure there will be an application for the other kebab van.

“Also, I personally don’t enjoy the aroma that comes from the vans and I’m sure other people don’t during shopping hours either.”

Concerns for the impact of local businesses and parking spaces were also raised.

Richard Crumly (Con, Thatcham Central) said: “I don’t think I’m happy with this.

“How can I be polite about this, these vans I think belong in the evening hours, not during what I would call normal business and retail hours, so I don’t want to see them there before 6pm.

“It seems to me there wouldn’t be that amount of business going from 4pm to 6pm, or 5pm to 6pm, to justify the additional time.

“I don’t suppose, at the end of the day, it looks that good having vans like that from 4pm or 5pm in the town centre – 6pm to me is the right time for them to commence.”

Lourdes Cottam (Lib Dem, Thatcham North East) said: “It feels like unfair competition to the actual shop that exists around the corner for kebabs.

“My main point is we, as a town, have fought in recent months – quite hard – to retain our free parking spaces, and this is eroding into that because it would be taking two to three hours of the free time that people have to park and go to the local shops.

“I know a few friends who are quite disabled find that very useful.”

Richard Foster (Lib Dem, Thatcham Colthrop and Crookham) said: “The van takes up about four parking spaces and I don’t know what local retailers would think if those spaces were removed because that tends to mean that people who might have parked and shopped in the local shops in some of the hours can’t find a space, so don’t actually do their shopping.

“To remove four spaces is quite significant in terms of the number of spaces available at a time of day when retail shops are still open.”

Town clerk Mel Taylor asked councillors to consider excluding the first Friday in December from the licence, or not allowing the vans to trade until later, as the date coincides with the town’s Christmas lights switch-on.

She said: “We do have health and safety concerns every Christmas lights switch-on event when the kebab vans try to access their usual trading point, which is within the road closure as part of the Christmas lights switch-on, and it does cause issues every year.”

Town councillors did not object to the van’s current licence being renewed, but objected to the van operating earlier in the evenings.

West Berkshire Council will determine the licence at a later date.