Types of consent

You can apply for either static or mobile street trading consent.

• Static street trading is trading in one site for more than 20 minutes.
• Mobile street trading is when you move from one place to another, staying there for no longer than 20 minutes.

Occasional static street trading consent (daily consent)

Occasional static street trading consent allows you to trade in a fixed location for a brief period. It can be used where street trading is taking place as part of an event, or is a one-off event on its own.

Consents are issued for a single pitch only. Additional consents are required for other pitches and trading units.

Annual static street trading consent (52 weeks)

Annual static street trading consent allows you to trade in a fixed location for a period of up to 12 months (52 weeks). It enables you to trade up to seven days a week (within specified times) at a designated pitch.

If you only intend trading during a specified period of the year, you need to state this in your application. Leaving a pitch vacant when it should be in use may result in the consent being revoked.

Consents are issued for a single pitch only. If you want to trade in two locations on different days of the week, you can apply for a multi static site consent. This covers two trading pitches. Additional consents are required for other pitches and trading units.

Annual mobile street trading consent (52 weeks)

Annual mobile street trading consent allows you to trade in the streets across the Barnsley borough (excluding those within the Barnsley town centre boundary) in a mobile unit. For example, in an ice cream van, mobile sandwich van, mobile fish and chip van etc.

Mobile consents allow you to stop for a short duration during which you have a queue of customers to serve, and after that you move on. The expected duration for each stop shouldn't be more than 20 minutes.

Mobile street trading consents are issued to one trading unit only. Additional consents are required for any other mobile trading units.

Traders who don't need consent

You don't legally need street trading consent to trade:

• as a pedlar if you have a pedlar's certificate
• as a roundsman (someone who goes around delivering and taking orders)
• in a charter or statutory market
• as a news vendor, selling newspapers and periodicals
• at a petrol station
• in a trunk road picnic area provided by the Secretary of State under section 122 of the Highways Act 1980
• on or at a premises used as a shop, or in a street adjoining the premises which is used as part of the business of the shop
• for the operation of facilities for recreation or refreshment under Part VII A of the Highways Act 1980

You also don't need to apply for street trading consent for:

• the sale of items by a householder on land within the area of their property - eg a garage sale
• the sale of goods from a working farm or smallholding at the premises where they were produced
• trading as part of an established travelling fair, where we've already granted permission for the event
• trading as part of a market, where we've already granted permission for the market

Community and special events

Events with four stalls or less are defined as a group of street traders, and each trader needs to have street trading consent. This applies to all events taking place on public or private land which are accessible to the public free of charge.

Events with five or more stalls with a concourse of buyers and sellers are defined as a market. For this type of event, the event organiser will need to apply for a private markets licence before the event takes place.

Any special event which falls outside of the street trading policy is subject to a flat fee and a non-refundable application charge. These types of applications can only be determined by us. Please contact us online before making an application.

Submitting an application for street trading or to Barnsley Markets doesn't infer or authorise any event to take place, as necessary applications need to made to the appropriate departments. Larger events may also be subject to review by the Event Safety Advisory Group. Find out about organising an event.

Events taking place without the required approvals will leave the organiser and/or street traders liable to enforcement action. This could include a fine and/or legal proceedings.

If you're providing entertainment at your event, such as music and dancing or selling alcohol, you'll also need to apply for a Temporary Event Notice.

Where you can trade

You need consent to trade on any street in the borough. However, we'll only grant permission if a requirement exists and the trading is likely to contribute to the area.

We won't grant consent if the street trading provision in an area is already met, or if the placing of street traders is likely to cause:

• a nuisance to other businesses or residences
• an obstruction
• a safety risk

If you want to trade at different static locations, you need consent for each site. To trade at two locations on different days of the week only, you can apply for a multi static site consent.

Mobile traders (eg ice cream vans) need street trading consent for each vehicle, rather than for each location.

Consent to trade on trunk roads such as the A616, A628 and A61 will be subject to additional conditions.

Trading on private land

For street trading taking place on privately owned land, you must have permission from the landowner. The landowner should check with our planning department if their land has the correct permission to be used for street trading first.

Trading on council-owned land other than a highway

If you want to trade on a council-owned car park, you need permission from our parking service. Contact the parking service online to ask about this.

If you want to to trade in a park or open green space, find out how to contact our parks service.

To trade on other council-owned land, you may also need written permission. Email assetmanagement@barnsley.gov.uk to ask about trading on all other council-owned land.

Mobile trading

If a trader stops on the highway and customers approach to buy food or drink, individual landowner permission isn't required.

If a trader intends to stop in a car park, forecourt, or any other privately owned area to serve or sell to customers off the highway, then permission is required from each premises the trader intends to visit.

Selling food and drink

If you run a food business, you need to register this with your local council before you start trading. You need to do this if you manufacture, store, supply, prepare or offer food for sale, whether for profit or not. Find out how to register a food business if your business is based in the Barnsley borough.

If you sell consumable products (eg hot and cold food or beverages), you must also have achieved a food hygiene rating of 3 or above. 

Selling alcohol or late-night refreshments

Under the Licensing Act 2003, alcohol can't be sold from anywhere or by any person without authorisation. You also need authorisation to serve hot food or drinks between 11pm and 5am.

For street trading, you can apply for a temporary authorisation by submitting a Temporary Event Notice (TEN).

Fees

You need to pay a £100 non-refundable application fee to apply for street trading consent. This charge also applies to consent renewals.

In addition to the application fee, the cost of street trading consent depends on:

• the location where you want to trade (Barnsley town centre or elsewhere in the borough - see the map of the Barnsley town centre boundary)
• if you're applying for annual or occasional consent
• if you want to trade from a static pitch or mobile
• if you're selling food or non-food items

Costs are based on a pitch size up to 18 square metres. An additional charge of £8 per square metre applies to pitches beyond 18 square metres in size.

Barnsley town centre

Borough-wide (excludes Barnsley town centre)

Other fees

If a traffic assessment is required, there will be an additional charge of £50.

Any special event applications which fall outside of the policy will be charged a flat fee plus the non-refundable application charge to cover administration costs.

For any enquiries about fees before making an application, please contact us online.

Supporting documents and what you'll need when applying

You need to be at least 17 to apply for street trading consent. You'll also need to provide the following:

• A recent colour passport-sized photo of all consent holders.
• Proof of your name and address. You can't use the same proof of ID for both, and the documents we can accept are:
  • proof of name: current passport, birth certificate, current UK or EEA photocard driving licence, or benefit notification letter
  • proof of address: utility bill or bank statement issued within the last three months, current year's Council Tax bill, UK driving licence, tenancy agreement or mortgage statement
• Proof of your right to work in the UK (current passport, driving licence, residence permit or bank statement).
• Basic Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate, dated within the last six months.
• The grid reference and What3Words reference from the UK Grid Reference Finder website for the exact location where you intend to trade (for static street trading only).
• A site plan of the proposed location of where the trading unit would be positioned, in an appropriate scale to show its exact location and the ground dimensions it will cover. The plan should also show the surrounding area and streets.
• If the trading is on private land, written proof of the landowner's permission. This must be dated to cover the length of the consent and must include trading days and times.
• For event organisers only - written permission 'in principle' from the council's events team.
• Colour photos of the trading unit showing the front, back and side.
• Dimensions of the trading unit and any identifying marks, eg vehicle registration etc.
• Gas and electrical safety certificate for the trading unit (if applicable).
• Vehicle test certificate (if applicable).
• Evidence you're registered as a food business, your level 2 or above food hygiene qualification, and your food hygiene rating or awaiting inspection status (if applicable).

If your application is successful, you'll then also need to provide:

• a valid certificate of insurance covering third party and public liability risks for at least £5 million, which must cover street trading
• your commercial waste agreement or waste carriers' licence (see your business waste responsibilities)
• the certificate of insurance for the trading vehicle (if applicable)

Before you apply

Before submitting your application, you can contact us online to ask us about street trading consent in advance. This won't guarantee you'll receive consent, and we can't tell you in advance if your chosen pitch will be suitable, but it may help you prepare a stronger application.

It may also help you avoid spending time and money on a full application that might not be successful.

How we use your information

We'll use the information you provide so we can process your application. This will be done inline with the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982.

Barnsley Council is committed to compliance with all applicable data protection law, including the Data Protection Act 2018.

We may share your information with the following third parties to aid our decision making:

• South Yorkshire Police
• South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue
• Barnsley Council services:
  • Highways
  • Regulatory Services
  • Health and Safety
  • Safer Neighbourhood Teams
  • Planning
  • Parks and Open Spaces
  • Estates
  • Event Advisory Group
  • Public Health
• Other local authorities relevant to your application
• Other council services

The information you provide will be kept for duration of your licence plus six years, after which it will be deleted. The information will be stored electronically on a secure council database.

Find out more about how we use your personal information.

Changing your personal details

If you need to change your name or address, find out how to change your details for street trading consent. 

Renewing consent

If you already have an annual street trading consent which is due to expire, find out how to renew street trading consent.

You can also renew an occasional static consent as long as it's for the same pitch you've already had consent for in the current street trading year.

If you no longer need your consent

If you no longer need your street trading consent, please contact us online to let us know.