Call for food truck red tape to be cut
When
will common sense prevail?
But
wacky regulations, that differ wildly from council to council, are threatening
to stop the trucks in their tracks. In some cases, red tape means food trucks
can sell their epicurean offerings on one side of the road but not the other.
It’s
just one example of mass confusion which has seen Sydney fall behind Melbourne in
the number of food trucks and led Labor to demand consistent rules for the
trucks throughout the city.
Joe
Jackson set up Sydney-based vegetarian food truck Vejoes last month with a
$100,000 investment, including the cost of his brightly coloured truck emblazoned
with cartoon veggies.
The
26-year-old foodie entrepreneur told news.com.au he will need to sell a whole
lot of Cajun black bean quesadillas and grilled corn to pay off the substantial
debt. “It’s going to be a hard slog but the more I can serve the less of hard
slog it will be.”
However,
Mr Jackson said the multitude of different rules was holding back his business,
preventing him from employing more staff and leading to fewer opportunities for
food truck fans to try the tasty treats.
“It’s madness, it took me 12 months of
paperwork before I even had the truck in a position to run as a business and
then when you start it’s so inconsistent,” said Mr Jackson. “It’s different
from council to council so you have to call every time you want to drive somewhere.”
IT CAN’T BE THAT HARD
While he can work at events, the bread and butter of food trucks,
whether he can set up on busy streets depends on which of Sydney’s more than 20
council areas he is parked in.
In the busy inner west suburb of Newtown, Vejoes can sell food on one
side of the road but is barred from doing so just feet away on the other side.
This is due to the fact the suburb straddles two local authorities with the
City of Sydney embracing food trucks and the Marrickville shunning them.
Council fees can also vary from place to place but simpler rules would
mean Mr Jackson could rock up at will to busy spots across the city.
“Going to the beach would be pretty cool. We’d put speakers on the truck
and make a really nice atmosphere and as we don’t have an alcohol licence
people wouldn’t be boozy; they’d just be enjoying the food. But [because of the
difficulty] you pretty much don’t do street service anywhere else apart from
the City of Sydney.”
He could also employ more staff. “I don’t want to work seven days a week
but I would want the truck out seven days so I’d need people to help me.”
Mr Jackson said Sydney’s food truck scene was a sorry snag compared to
the gourmet banger that was Melbourne: “Catch up is an understatement,
Melbourne has around 105 food trucks yet Sydney has just under 40, less than
half, but everyone I speak to is super excited to eat out of them.
“It really does seem like some councils don’t want to deal with them. It
can’t be that hard,” he said.
Labor Member of the Legislative Council, Daniel Mookhey, told
news.com.au the Government should take action so Mr Jackson, and others, could
get out on the road more often.
“The current regulations governing food trucks are just too confusing
for operators to understand.
“One set code for councils to adopt makes sense. It creates a standard
that food truck operators know they have to meet and makes it easy for hungry
people to access them,” he said.
“All of Sydney deserves a thriving cuisine scene and should be able to
enjoy food trucks and the great food they serve.”
This story has been
brought to you by the Emerald Chamber of Commerce Inc.
(Ph: 07 4982 3444)
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