Latest news with #PaulStHilaireSr
Telegraph
15-07-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Council accused of making up complaints against banned ice-cream seller
A council has been accused of making up complaints against a banned ice-cream seller. Paul St Hilaire Sr was blocked from selling ice cream from a van in Greenwich, south-east London, in 2012. He and his son, Paul St Hilaire Jr, a solicitor, have been fighting ever since to regain the pitch he occupied on King William Walk, near the Royal Observatory. Mr St Hilaire Jr has accused Greenwich council of using incorrect grounds in refusing to grant them a permanent pitch. 'The council made the decision against permanent pitches because they claimed to have had 13 complaints against my dad,' he told The Guardian. 'But the so-called complaints weren't complaints at all; they were just questions about trading. There wasn't a single complaint about my dad.' Mr St Hilaire Sr, 70, first sold ice cream on King William Walk in the 1980s. Customers from all over the world 'I loved selling ice cream there, it was beautiful and busy,' he said. 'My customers came from all over the world but had one similarity: they didn't want the expensive ice cream sold by the National Maritime Museum nearby – they wanted a Mr Whippy.' But in 2004 the street was closed to ice-cream vans because it was too narrow. In 2011, the National Maritime Museum opened a new wing which widened it, prompting the St Hilaires to apply for a licence. The council rejected the application but was forced to give one on appeal in 2013. This ruling was upheld in 2015 but in 2016, when they applied to renew the licence, the council said King William Walk was no longer approved for street trading. In 2021, the council briefly reversed that decision before it confirmed in 2023 that it was not open to street trading. In August the St Hilaires will appear at the High Court to challenge the 2023 decision. 'It would be funny if it wasn't so heartbreaking,' said Mr St Hilaire Sr. 'All this fuss, upset and expense over ice cream.' A spokesman for Greenwich council said: 'King William Walk is a narrow and busy historic street. We need to make sure everyone can move around safely and easily, so there are restrictions on street trading here to avoid queues blocking the way.'
Telegraph
21-04-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Labour council denies being ‘anti-ice cream' despite van ban plans
A Labour-run council has denied being 'anti-ice cream' over plans to restrict their sale in some streets. The Royal Borough of Greenwich in London wants to ban itinerant ice cream vans from trading in more than 30 roads in the area, including King William Walk, a popular tourist site near the Royal Observatory. But the plans have faced opposition from the likes of father-of-seven Paul St Hilaire Sr, who has been selling ice creams in the borough for 30 years. He previously challenged the ban at Bromley magistrates' court, which last August ordered the council to rerun its consultation into the proposals. The case cost taxpayers £52,000. However, the ban is now expected to shortly be approved at a full council meeting after 16 local organisations and residents vote in favour during the new consultation, with nine opposed. The council said the restrictions were needed in King William Walk because ice cream queues were blocking the path for pedestrians, particularly causing problems for the elderly, the disabled and those with pushchairs. Residents have also raised concerns about pollution from the vans, which keep their engines running to power their machines even while at a standstill. Cllr Pat Slattery, the authority's cabinet member for neighbourhoods, told a recent council meeting: 'I think it is important to say that the council is not anti-ice cream. There are ice cream vendors in a reasonable spit of where this ice cream van regularly parks up.' Cllr Anthony Okereke, leader of the council, added: 'We are not banning ice creams in Greenwich in any way, shape or form. We do love an ice cream, actually.' Ban 'ludicrous' However, Susan Hall, a Conservative London Assembly member, described the ban as 'ludicrous'. She told The Telegraph: 'The council should rethink this policy. Are they all hell-bent on destroying any fun in Sadiq Khan's London?' In documents seen by The Telegraph, one local said they feared exhaust fumes were damaging the health of people living nearby, with some ice cream vans keeping their engines running for up to eight hours a day. Another complained the vans blocked views of the area's World Heritage Site, while also contributing to noise pollution caused by their chimes. The University of Greenwich was among the groups to support the restrictions. It said King William Walk was an 'unsuitable location' for ice cream vans because of the obstruction caused to traffic and pedestrians, while also warning that they 'affect local businesses'. Mr St Hilaire Sr has previously accused the council of wanting to 'stop genuine competition'. He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service last year: 'I've been doing my business for 30 years, I've raised a family. I have all my children that are here working and providing services for the wider community. All I want is to be able to sell my ice cream.'
BBC News
21-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Greenwich park ice cream van sparks legal battle with council
Plans to prohibit ice cream vans from trading on a street next to Greenwich Park have prompted a local councillor to state that the local authority is not "anti-ice cream".Greenwich Council's cabinet has recommended that King William Walk be designated as a prohibited street for itinerant ice cream included the thoroughfare at the north-west corner of the park on a list of streets where the trade of ice cream is ice cream van operator Paul St Hilaire Sr successfully challenged the decision in court on the basis that the council's decision was not legally sound. Bromley Magistrates' Court ordered the council to re-run the public consultation process and review whether King William Walk should be included in the list of prohibited Local Democracy Reporting Service previously revealed through a Freedom of Information request that Greenwich Council spent £52,000 of public money on legal costs for the council carried out their court-ordered consultation process earlier this a council cabinet meeting on 9 April, it was revealed that out of the 25 organisations and residents that responded to the consultation, 16 were in favour of the prohibition and nine were against Pat Slattery, a ward councillor for Greenwich Park, which includes King William Walk, supported the prohibition told the cabinet meeting: "I think it is important to say that the council is not anti-ice cream. "There are ice cream vendors in a reasonable spit of where this ice cream van regularly parks up." 'Not banning ice-creams' At the cabinet meeting councillor Jackie Smith said the only grounds on which the council can prevent itinerant ice cream trading on any of its streets "is the interest in preventing the obstruction to traffic or undue interference or inconvenience to persons using the street". She added: "We have had lots of complaints from lots of residents of King William Walk in the past."Interim director of legal services Azuka Onuorah told the council that if the ban was challenged again, the prohibition remains in place pending the outcome of the challenge, which entitles the council to take enforcement the cabinet approved the decision to recommend the King William Walk prohibition to full council, the council leader Anthony Okereke said: "We are not banning ice creams in Greenwich in any way shape or form. "We do love an ice cream, actually."
