West Suffolk Council is a Labour led coalition and along with the Labour led government is anti business. They have introduced a street traders license across the whole of West Suffolk. This is an additional tax of £409. We don’t have a litter problem in Clare or do we have rogue vans. We do have a lovely fish van who must now pay this tax.

Councils should encourage business not tax them to death. West Suffolk Council has also introduced another levy if a cafe wants to put a chair and table outside their cafe.

This is just bonkers. What might work in Bury doesn’t work in Clare. Ham fisted, clumsy and yet another obstacle to running a business. See the email that I wrote to the portfolio holder 10 days ago. Predictably I have not had a reply.

 If Clare is to prosper we all need to stickup for our businesses. I encourage you all to contact the portfolio holder gerald.kelly@westsuffolk.gov.uk

On 28 Jan 2025, at 13:05, Nick Clarke <nick.clarke@me.com> wrote:

Dear Gerald,

I hope you are well. 

The new Street Trading Policy is causing significant upset in my ward. It is rare to witness such unrest over a change in any policy. I want to give you a “heads up” of what is being discussed to give you sufficient time to resolve the issue before it becomes much more public.

We have all come into public life to do “good” rather than “harm” and I know you are no different. I understand that the policy would have been created by officers to help deal with an issue somewhere in the council area. Sometimes there are unintended consequences and this appears to br one of those times. A regulation for Bury St Edmunds doesn’t always work in Clare.

Clare is a very small town, designated a town for historic reasons rather than size. It is proud of it’s excellent community spirit, it’s self reliance and rarely asks for much from West Suffolk Council. However, given the small size of Clare our businesses are always finely balanced on the scales of success or failure.Anything that brings footfall into the town is welcome whilst conversely any deterrent is felt acutely. 

The Street Trading Policy seeks to spread the cost of managing the licensing across all traders within West Suffolk. The fee of £409 may seem small to a busy trader in one of the larger towns but may represent over a weeks trading in Clare. Clare does not have a litter problem nor any complaints about street trading of any sort. 

For clarity, what is being discussed in Clare is a campaign to remove this licence fee. The campaign is likely to include, a petition, contacting all parishes across West Suffolk to seek their support, focus a specific campaign in your ward to apply pressure publicly to you and highlight the anti business practices of this Labour led council with the aim of attracting National interest. This will obviously be used by political opponents as required. I hope this can all be resolved amicably and with out fuss as that is in all our interests but if not I am prepared to throw my weight behind the people of Clare and help them get organised.

I respectfully request that some way is found to soften the impact of the Street Traders Policy on Clare and the surrounding villages. Perhaps a reduced fee for small communities might help. Alternatively, perhaps the policy needs endorsing by the local town / parish council before it is enacted. There must be a way to sort this out.

best wishes 

Nick Clarke

West Suffolk Councillor for Clare, Hundon and Kedington Ward
West Suffolk Council
Email: Nick.Clarke@westsuffolk.gov.uk
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