Proposals to offer street traders pitches at some of York’s busiest events have been snubbed.
Traders claim they’re being pushed out of the city, and were offered the pitches as part of a compromise.
However, business owners believe these policies would still harm them.
The disagreement follows proposals to change a draft Street Trading Policy.
York does not currently have a street trading policy, with businesses operating based on guidance.
The council has said a policy is needed to make the process for getting consent and operating conditions more transparent.
The draft stated that Make It York could not guarantee traders could use their usual pitches during its events, the busiest of which is the Christmas Market.
This caused backlash from street traders, which councillors were updated on earlier this week (Monday November 4).
They claimed it would see them lose out on custom during the periods of the year, that they rely on to stay afloat.
York Council officers have proposed to amend the draft, to make it clear that Make It York would not have blanket powers to force traders off their pitches during its events.
Margaret Rush, of Graham’s Ices, said offering traders alternative pitches within events such as the Christmas Market could be as damaging as excluding them.
Jackson’s of York owner Tom Jackson agreed, stating that street traders should not have to suffer by being moved to try and deal with issues such as overcrowding.
But Lisa Grimbley, of events organiser Make It York, said they needed to be able to change layouts to improve them, with the pitch offer made as a compromise.
‘Unrestricted control’
The latest proposals would see traders offered alternative pitches within the footprint of events and the ability to request specific spots for a fee.
But trader Mrs Rush, who has run her ice cream business in York with her husband Graham since 1974, said it could leave them in unviable locations and losing out.
The trader told the Licensing and Regulatory Committee: “Make It York appear to be reluctant to agree to anything short of unrestricted control over city centre trading pitches during their events, we feel at times that we’ve been met with a brick wall.
“They’re unwilling to grant specific pitches or consult with traders, this could be as damaging as not allowing us to trade at all.”
Business owner Mr Jackson said proposals from council officials to map pitches was welcomed, but they needed to go further.
Mr Jackson said: “The use of St Sampsons Square during the market needs to be addressed, the current arrangement is contributing to overcrowding issues.
“There’s 26 chalets at about 9 sqm each put there, my two stalls together take up 9.6sqm, why are they being singled out?”
Make It York’s Major Events Manager Ms Grimbley said they needed to have the ability to alter the layout of events so they could tackle issues such as overcrowding.
She added the body accepted the changes put forward in the latest draft of the policy.
Ms Grimbley said: “This is a compromise for Make It York, we’d prefer to be able to utilise the entire footprint for our events.
“We fully evaluate each event and change the layout as a result, we did that this year.
“Our preference is to have local York traders at our events.
“Our events contribute to making the city centre a vibrant place, the increase in footfall provides benefits for surrounding businesses and attractions.”
York does not currently have a street trading policy, with businesses operating based on guidance.
The council has said a policy is needed to make the process for getting consent and operating conditions more transparent.
Any changes have been delayed until next year so that traders can remain in their current pitches.