A FRUIT stall has been a popular stop for motorists on Cobra Street who purchased 45 kilograms of tomatoes and 15 kilograms of mandarins and oranges a day until Dubbo City Council told Dennis Crowley to pack up and never return.
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Mr Crowley said the order came from the council without warning or a clear explanation.
Mr Crowley told the Daily Liberal he was frustrated he was not allowed to sell his produce.
“I’m doing the public a favour by selling local produce to support local business,” he said.
He said the council people told him he had to “get going” because the council did not want him to sell fruit and vegetables on the side of the road.
Mr Crowley said it was a “pretty weak excuse” for the council to kick him off the road.
“What happens to the products I have left?” he said.
The council’s acting director environmental services Stephen Wallace said Mr Crowley did not have consent to set up his stall.
When the Daily Liberal asked why the council did not act earlier, he said, they did not want to “over-regulate businesses” and Mr Crowley was just lucky not to have been shut down earlier.
“We received a complaint from an anonymous caller who was unhappy with the unsightly nature of the stall’s setup, so we were compelled to act,” Mr Wallace said.
He said the council could not permit Mr Crowley to have a roadside stall.
A roadside stall was for landholders who sold products on or adjacent to their property, he said.
“We are more than happy to sit and guide him through the process to have a place within a property where it is permissible,” he said.
“I think that is reasonable and fair.”
Mr Wallace gave the example of the seafood stand which had permission from the council to operate at the BP station every Thursday.
Roadside stalls would proliferate around the city, he said, if the council turned a blind eye to them.
Mr Crowley said he had approached the council before he sold cherries last summer and they told him he “needed nothing”.
“I wasn’t aware of the permit process because I had no problem selling cherries before,” he said.
He said if he crossed the road and got permission from Harvey Norman to sell his produce in front of the store he would still need to have the council’s permission.
Mr Crowley said with the council’s red tape it would take a long time to approve the fruit stall or “turn it on its head”.
