Daventry residents object to proposed 'dessert van' outside their homes

The hot food van, which would be known as ‘The Biscuiterie’, wants to set up in a layby on Badby Road West so it can sell hot and cold desserts and drinks.

But residents say that the ‘smells’ coming from the van, as well as a potential increase in anti-social behaviour and litter, and road safety concerns all make the site ‘unsuitable’.

Councillors on Daventry District Council’s licensing committee will now have to determine next Tuesday (April 30), whether to allow the van to trade there.

The council’s senior environmental health officer, Mike Jephcott, does not believe nuisance will be caused for local neighbours, with 53 properties being within a 100-metre radius.

In his representation to the committee, he states: “I note that it is proposed to sell patisserie based products, with hot food being limited to the making of crepes. As such, I don’t consider odours generated will result in a nuisance for neighbours, and it is unlikely that noxious odours will arise.”

The van wants to have a licence covering 9am to 9pm daily, but would not trade for more than a few hours on four days of the week.

But the council’s planning investigator Adam Kite disagrees with his colleague, saying he does not believe the site is ‘appropriate’.

Almost 20 residents have also submitted comments. One wrote: “This layby is quite heavily used by residents. It is the only safe parking space in the road. It is not reasonable that it should be blocked by a trader.”

Another wrote: “I well know the sickly, sweet, sticky taste when passing ‘dessert’ vans in the fairground, and I do not want this replicated in my home. The thought of my garden, my house, my clothes, my hair and any washing I choose to hang up in my garden smelling and tasting of sticky sugar is particularly repulsive.”