Despite social media posts by some Eat Street vendors, City of Launceston say “no changes” have been made to legislation preventing trade in the area.
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On Friday, popular food vans Turkish Tukka and Burger Junkie took to their Facebook pages to announce they would no longer be trading on Eat Street.
“It’s our last night on Eat Street for the foreseeable future - we have Agfest next week and then due to permit changes we will be looking for a new location,” Turkish Tukka’s post said.
Burger Junkie also said Friday was possibly its last night at the popular venue.
“Our return is dependent on our permits being renewed as we cannot hire truck staff until we know the outcome from council,” the post said.
“With a bit of luck you will see us back on the streets later in the year.”
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City of Launceston acting general manger Shane Eberhardt said the council had not made any changes to the legislation from earlier this year that prevented the vendors trading on Eat Street.
“The council last year developed a policy framework to address some of the issues arising from Eat Street's growing success,” Mr Eberhardt said.
“This work was based on retaining what Eat Street has become and ensuring its sustainability into the future.
“Another well-publicised aspect of that work was the issuing of temporary six-month permits until an expressions of interest process could he held and finalised to determine longer-term permits going forward.”
The advertised period for the EOIs closed last week.
“All existing vendors were invited to submit, and the current permits will remain valid until such the assessments occur and the successful permit holders are announced,” Mr Eberhardt said.
“This is something we expect to occur in coming months.
“We've been very clear with Eat Street food van operators that all current permits will remain valid until the process is complete.
“In the mean time, from the council's perspective, there is no change to Eat Street.”
Mr Eberhardt said the council had always supported food vans.
“Food vans add vibrancy and dynamism, we think there's unquestionably a place for them in Launceston. Eat Street is a great example of that and we want to see it going from strength to strength,” he said.
Journalist at The Examiner Newspaper
Journalist at The Examiner Newspaper
