In response to calls for a sustainable management plan for informal traders, fully equipped containers have been installed in Riverhorse Valley Business Estate (RHVBE).
The process to find the right solution began with concerns over the health and general conditions of informal trading sites within the estate. With informal trade part of the estate landscape, and no clear plan on how to ensure more sustainable structures, the RHVBE Management Association began engaging with the municipality on the way forward.
The focus of this extensive engagement process, which began in 2014, was on trader sites and stalls. The two-fold result, was firstly, the creation of dedicated trading sites and a limited number of traders, as opposed to permits being granted in any location; and secondly, trading stalls for food vendors and outdoor kitchens of a much higher standard.
Two new test-containers were manufactured and allocated to two existing food traders in the Estate, with one more container due on site in the next few months. The containers were well received, and so far are proving to be safe and hygienic, and with the well structured spaces inside them, are helping to reduce the need to spread beyond the site allocated under the trading by-laws. Further feedback will be used in the manufacture of the next rounds of traders containers, which it is hoped will be used in other parts of the City too.
