The food trucks debate has attracted the second-largest response ever received by an Adelaide City Council community consultation.
The council received 977 responses during the four-week consultation period, which ended last Friday.
Only consultation on Soundwave Music Festival’s 2015 application to use the parklands received a higher number of submissions – more than 1,200.
Fixed-location city businesses submitted 73 responses to the consultation on proposed changes to the mobile food vending program, after 113 businesses were approached physically by council staff.
Mobile food vendors, by contrast, were consulted by email, and a “large majority” responded. Some mobile vendors also handed out council consultation surveys to customers.
The fixed-location businesses approached physically during the consultation were chosen because they were “most likely to be impacted by the mobile food vendors’ trade,” a council spokesperson said.
“In addition to that direct consultation with the 113 businesses, there are also a lot of fixed food businesses (that) proactively responded to the consultation online, which we didn’t approach.”
The impact of the mobile food vending program on established businesses has been central to the rationale for proposed changes to the program, which involve higher fees for food truck operators and a wider food trucks exclusion zone from fixed city businesses.
Premier Jay Weatherill told InDaily last week he was “very alarmed” by the proposed changes, questioning the council’s commitment to city vibrancy.
Premier Jay Weatherill.
Lord Mayor Martin Haese told InDaily he wants both food trucks and established businesses to flourish in the CBD, and that the proposed changes would strike a better “balance” than the current scheme.
The responses to the council’s consultation process were collected by email, social media, the YourSay website and from face-to-face contact with city businesses.
“What we’re currently doing is starting to input the hard copy responses that we received into the system and then pool all of that data together,” the council spokesperson said.
A report on the feedback is due to be presented to Adelaide City Council in a fortnight.
