A kebab van owner has won permission to trade from a pub car park next to residents’ homes despite objections from dozens of neighbours. South Gloucestershire councillors granted Ismail Buyukpolat a street trading licence for a hot food trailer called Downend Kebabs from 4pm to 11pm daily at the Trident pub in Badminton Road.
A total of 27 residents and the parish council objected with concerns including cooking smells, noise, increased litter and parking and antisocial behaviour. One neighbour told a licensing sub-committee hearing on Wednesday, March 27: “The main objection is the proximity of the trailer to the surrounding properties which will inevitably be subjected to smells produced by the cooking process.
“The position is very close to neighbours’ properties. Cooking smells would unreasonably and substantially interfere with the enjoyment of our homes and gardens.
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“I’m concerned about the noise from this trailer. I didn’t expect a fast-food outlet to be established there and it will undoubtedly attract groups of people in cars every evening, seven days a week.”
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He said there were already enough takeaways in the area. "This will generate additional rubbish,” he said.
“This is a totally inappropriate position for the unit.” He said the pub car park was often full in the evening, so customers would park on surrounding roads, including Black Horse Lane, a busy car and bus route.
The van would become a “permanent fixture” because although it had to be moved off the “trading site” at the end of each day, the plan was for it to remain in the car park but closer to the pub, which licensing officers said complied with regulations. Mr Buyukpolat told the panel that he had run a kebab van for many years and had never had any problems.
He said the pub had given him permission to use its toilets, bins and electricity, so he would not need a generator which could have created noise for neighbours. Mr Buyukpolat said waste cooking oil would be stored safely in a barrel and collected weekly and that he would clear any litter at the end of each shift.
Approving the licence for six months, sub-committee chairman Cllr Keith Cranney (Conservative, Stoke Gifford) said no objections had been received from the authorities and that the van would be subject to separate controls from the council’s environmental health team. He said the conditions on the licence would be sufficient to alleviate residents’ concerns.
