Greenwich Council implements ice cream van ban on street

A south-east London council has unanimously voted to ban ice cream selling at popular tourist spot – but business owners are planning once again to take the fight to the High Court.

Greenwich Council has disallowed itinerant ice cream trading on King William Walk near Greenwich Park, on the grounds of pedestrian safety and environmental health.

It was forced in 2023 to re-run the a consultation by the High Court after being challenged by father and son ice cream business owners Paul St Hilaire Sr and Jr.

The St Hilaires said they will be appealing the council’s latest decision.

At a recent meeting of the full council, Cllr Jackie Smith shared the results of this second court-ordered consultation and proposed King William Walk be officially designated as a prohibited street for what is known as “itinerant ice cream trading”.

Having rerun the consultation, the end result was the same in terms of the council’s decision.

Cllr Smith said “unregulated trading” raised concerns about pedestrian safety, environmental health and “the preservation of the area’s historic character”.

She added the council was not opposed to ice cream trading, just to vans trading in King William Walk, primarily due to the “potential danger to pedestrians” caused by queuing on the busy road.

The councillors agreed and voted in favour of the ban.

The St Hilaires have had a licence to trade there since 2015, and say that Greenwich Council originally introduced a sales ban on the street without telling them.

They also say they had no complaints against them and that they had paid all the relevant licensing fees.

Paul St Hilaire Jr said they are waiting for a High Court date in relation to the council’s separate move to prohibit King William Walk from being a licensed street for trading.