Donegal County Council has launched a review into regulations for casual trading in Donegal.
The review aims to address the advantages and issues of casual trading amid the rise in pop-up coffee vans and food trucks along roadsides and in villages.
The public is being invited to take part in an early consultation phase and make submissions before 3rd September. There will be other opportunities to make submissions under the statutory process which will begin in 2022.
At present, the council said its Casual Trading Bye-laws do not ‘effectively respond to current conditions and requirements’. Extensive consultations are to be carried out with relevant stakeholders and members of the public before Bye-Laws are changed.
Since the existing Bye-laws were adopted, the conditions for retail and trading have changed due to growing tourism, the success of the Wild Atlantic Way and the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a recent report, the council said: “Casual Trading in the County at present has both positive and negative attributes. It can often attract negative attention related to issues such as unfair competition with rate paying businesses or trading in unsuitable locations, as examples. There are however, many benefits to appropriate and suitably located Casual Trading designations including its potential to improve the economic vitality and provide regeneration opportunities to an area.”
At present, casual trading can only take place at the locations specified in the relevant Bye-laws.
As the review gets underway, the council is now seeking to identify suitable locations for casual trading across the county, and wants to collect submissions from the public via the contact details below: