Street vendor hopes stores will stop spitting chips

Food truck vendors in Adelaide are hoping new guidelines will appease established traders who have complained about their presence in city streets.

An Adelaide City Council committee has backed draft measures which will go before the full council meeting next week.

They include a permit system and charging street vendors a fee, as well as imposing new location restrictions.

Robert Dean, who operates the Burger Theory food truck, said some bricks-and-mortar businesses had long supported street vendors and he hoped the new guidelines would bring others on side.

Street vendors hope to win more support from rival businesses

"They restrict the number of times the food trucks can trade in one place per week, so hopefully that'll alleviate some of that," he said.

"It also restricts distances and selling similar food types within a distance, so I think they're two good measures.

"I think really when you look at it, the positives that something like street vending and food trucks can bring to a city far outweigh the negatives."

Restaurant and Catering CEO Sally Neville welcomed the planned rules and said some permanent businesses were struggling to compete.

"We love the fact that they do add vibrancy but the industry feels they should meet the same compliance burden that stand alone bricks-and-mortar businesses have," she said.

More than 50 traders have permission to operate in city streets around Adelaide.

Source: ABC News, 6 February 2013