Outback restaurants cry foul as food trucks roll in to cut their lunch
With COVID-19 restrictions cancelling many festivals and outdoor events, food vans are making ends meet by setting up on the streets of small towns such as Longreach in western Queensland.
Restaurants want advance notice of food vans visiting the outback Queensland town to adjust for the drop in business, but the local council isnât coming to the table.
Longreach restauranteur Leanne Kohler, who owns Darcyâs Diner and BBâs Bistro, isnât against the food vans.
She just wants the council to warn her of their arrival so she can roster fewer staff and order less perishable food to cater for the extra competition.
âWhen the food vans are here, you could actually close your doors at three oâclock, five oâclock,â she said.
âYou could save yourself the cost of being open because youâre not getting the patronage.â
Kohler wrote to the council, asking for better communication with local business on when vans are arriving.
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But she said council only responded with a letter pointing her to the laws that permit vans to operate in the town.
âWe wear the cost,â she said.
âThe issue I have isnât the fact that the food vans are there,â Kohler said.
âItâs things like being able to pre-order accordingly and not have your perishables go off because youâre not using the same quota of food that you would normally use.â
Food van owner open to the idea
A regional food van operator is backing the call to give local business notice to adjust to their arrival
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Steve Rix runs Wendyâs On Wheels ice cream truck, which regularly visits Longreach.
âItâs logistically hard for us and many other food vendors to notify local businesses that weâre coming to town,â he said.
âWhereas council would have that accessibility and it would be easy for them.â
Food vans have to apply to council for permits to be in town, pay a fee and can only be there a maximum of three days, six times a year.
Rix said he understood Kohlerâs request for notice.
He says he tries to put money back into the town through supporting businesses.
âEveryone in these times is trying to employ people, theyâre trying to distribute goods and make money within the town,â he said.
âThatâs why we when we come to town we try to spend as much money as we can in that community.â
Council tight-lipped
The Longreach Regional Council isnât budging on Kohlerâs request.
A spokesperson says food van applications are judged on merit and in line with local law.
However, they said council had no comment to make at this time about the issue.
â ABC / Dan Prosser, Ellie Grounds and Damien Larkins
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