Hokohoko mai i te papa whenua tūmatanui Trade from public land

Public land is any land that Auckland Council or a council-controlled organisation owns, manages or maintains, and is open for public use.

If you want to trade from public land you will need approval from us.

Public land is any land that Auckland Council or a council-controlled organisation owns, manages or maintains, and is open for public use.

To trade from public land, you will need to:

• get landowner approval if you want to trade from a park, beach, reserve (including a reserve car park), or other council-owned land – visit Landowner approvals
• get approval for your choice of site before you begin trading
• understand that public land sites do not offer power or wastewater disposal services
• contact the Auckland Harbourmaster for advice if you are trading from a beach that involves on-water activities
• apply for a mobile trading licence.

There are three types of mobile trading situations that impact your licence and licence conditions.

You must be aware of which situation applies to you when you apply for a licence.

You will need a separate licence for each site you trade from if you trade from each site at the same time.

For example: if a fruit seller trades from three different sites from Monday to Wednesday between 10am and 1pm, each of these three sites will need its own mobile trading licence.

You only need one licence when there is no overlap in trading times for each site.

For example: if a fruit seller trades at one site from 10am to 11am and then trades at a different site from 12pm to 1pm, they will only need one mobile trading licence.

Each site must be approved before a seller can trade from it.

We grant roaming licences to vehicle-based traders who do not have a fixed location, such as an ice cream truck or coffee cart.

Roaming licences have a different set of conditions to fixed-site traders. Visit Start a food truck to find out which licenses you will need.

• You must leave the site clean and tidy at the end of the day.
• You must not cause danger to pedestrians, cyclists or other vehicles.
• The trading set up must not block visibility for pedestrians or vehicles. We recommend keeping a minimum distance of 50m at intersections and roundabouts.
• You must not block access to private property.
• You cannot park a vehicle on the berm The grass area between the road and the footpath or property boundary. Also refers to grass area between water table/drain and fence/property boundary. Property owners are typically responsible for maintaining the berm in front of their property. Also known as the verge. or footpath unless you get special permission.
• You must not breach any Auckland Transport parking rules or time restrictions.
• Main arterial roads are not suitable locations for mobile traders due to increased traffic volumes. Suitability of some roads may change suddenly due to traffic management or roadworks.

If you are sell food, you should apply to register your business before or at the same time as you apply for your mobile trading licence.

Visit Apply for food registration.

Use our guides to find out the permits and licences you need for different types of businesses.