Thinking of a Snack Van as Pilot Scheme for Cafe

by Allison
(Lanarkshire, Scotland)

Hi David,

I own a piece of land which is road side of a busy commuter and tourist route. It is very rural with the nearest towns lying 6 miles away in either direction.

My goal is to gain planning permission to build my own business of a cafe, but people have said to me why not test business first of all with a snack van?

I'm sure I'd need planning permission to set up a van? But don't know what other obstacles I'd have to overcome.

A concern is the access from the road which is an A road and 60mph speed limit, although traffic speeding is common as the site lies on a long straight section of road.

Vision of oncoming traffic is fine, it's the stopping to turn in which concerns me (and would concern the local authorities as well I'd imagine)

We have space to provide car parking but I don't know how far we'd need to go as far as providing a lay-by or widening to road so that traffic travelling on the opposite carriageway can turn across the road etc.

I haven't approached my local council yet until I've done as much research as I can myself, so, my question to you is - In your experience, how do you think the local council would view such a business.

I'm finding this site a brilliant learning tool and would like to find out opinion on my own circumstance.