City of Newcastle - Mobile Food Truck

Mobile Food Van or Truck

A mobile food vending vehicle is a registered vehicle such as a truck or van used to sell food and drinks. It does not include pushbikes, carts, or similar objects.

Key differences

There are key differences between food trucks and food vans, such as permitted activities, food risk levels, operational restrictions, and location requirements.

Food trucks are designed for on-site preparation of hot and cold food and have stricter location and time restrictions.
Food vans sell pre-prepared items like drinks and sweets, and are allowed shorter, intermittent stops.

You can find out more about the key differences below.

Food truck

Food trucks must:

only operate in areas specified in appendix 1 of the policy
be located within existing lawful parking spaces
comply with the local parking restrictions
only stand in any one location for a maximum period of four hours at a time, inclusive of set-up and pack-up times
not return to an operating location for four hours
comply with the relevant road rules.

Food trucks must not:

Operate directly in front of a residential building or within a 50m radius of another fixed food business.
Impact on bicycle lanes, pedestrian ramps, footpaths, public street furniture, fire hydrants, telephone booths and post boxes or the like.
Be wider than 2.5m.
Be longer than 7.5m unless a separate road occupancy licence is sought.
Receive deliveries while in operation.
Remain in any location on-road overnight.
Provide tables or chairs or other seating or furniture.

Food van

Where and when you can trade

Where you can trade and the rules you need to follow depend on the type of land you're operating on, such as private property, public roads, or special event sites.

Private land

Mobile food vending vehicles are permitted to operate on private land within the Newcastle Local Government Area without requiring formal consent from the City of Newcastle, provided they meet specific development standards.

These include:

obtaining landowner consent
limiting operations to one vehicle per site
restricting trading hours to 7am - 7pm in residential zones.

Notification to City of Newcastle is still required prior to commencing operations.

Events

Food vending vehicles are permitted to operate at approved special events such as festivals, fairs, and shows with the permission of the event licence holder, who must hold a valid Section 68 Approval. To be included in the event approval, you must submit your current public liability and motor vehicle insurance documents to the event operator.

You do not need to apply for a separate permit to trade at markets or events, as long as you have the event organiser's approval.

The same rules apply to food trucks and vans that intend to trade at events in Newcastle but are coming from another Local Government Area, however, you must notify your Local Council of your intentions. Your Local/Home Council is where your vehicle is garaged.

It is essential to comply with the Temporary Event Guidelines to ensure a good standard of food hygiene and to allow for easy cleaning and maintenance, please see the following illustration, Minimum Standards for the Operation of a Temporary Food Stall. Food Officer's may then inspect your food business at the event to ensure you comply with these requirements.

Public roads

To operate on public roads, you must:

Only trade in the approved locations, as shown in the map below.
Hold a current Section 68 approval issued by City of Newcastle.
Operate only within the hours of 7am - 10pm.
Not sell alcohol, cigarettes or other non food products.

Carry valid insurance policies:

Public Liability insurance to value of $20,000,000
Registered vehicle insurance: Compulsory Third Party and Third Party Property Damage to the value of $20,000,000.

Our Mobile Food Vehicles map allows you to identify public land and roads approved for trade.
You can apply filters to see where a food truck, food van or both can trade.
Alternatively, refer to appendix 2 of the Mobile Food Vending Vehicles Policy.

Application information

Before you apply

Non compliance

Training

Preparing food at home

Approval validity

What you need to provide

This section will help you prepare a complete application; however additional information may be requested after our initial review.

Insurances

To issue the approval, we require a copy of all the following documents:

Compulsory Third Party (CTP)
Third Party Property Damage ($20,000,000 per occurrence)
Public Liability Insurance ($20,000,000 per occurrence and noting City of Newcastle as an interested party)

Public Liability Insurance

You must submit a copy of a public liability insurance indemnifying the applicant against any actions, suits, claims, demands or proceedings for death or injury to any third party or parties or loss of/or damage to any property with an indemnity amount of not less than $20,000,000 per occurrence and noting Newcastle City Council as an interested party.

The motor vehicle insurance must remain valid from the date the approval begins until the date it lapses. You must submit copies of current insurance policies that provide coverage for the applicant against:

any injury to any third party or parties under Compulsory Third Party Insurance as required by the NSW Motor Accidents Act 1988; and
loss of / or damage to any property whatsoever caused by the use of the vehicle when being driven by the Licensee, an employee of the Licensee, an independent contractor or any other person (including a person not employed by the Licensee).

Food safety, preparation and vehicle details

Application fees

There are no fees payable when you submit your application. We'll invoice you after your application and preferences have been reviewed.

If you'd like a fee estimate before applying, search for the application name in our Fees and Charges document.

Submit application

Complete the application form

Apply Now

Email it to us

Enter the address of the property and the type of application (e.g.,1 Sample Street Newcastle - Public Art Standing Committee Booking Form) in the subject line of the email.
Emails are to be sent to applications@ncc.nsw.gov.au

Next steps

Shortly after submitting your application, you will receive an email confirming we've received it, along with an invoice for the application fees.
If your application is successful, our officers will contact you to arrange a vehicle inspection.
Once the inspection is completed satisfactorily, you will be issued an approval to operate for the financial year, valid until 30 June unless otherwise revoked.
You must reapply at the beginning of each financial year.

Time frames

Approvals typically take 5 - 10 days to issue, this depends on the availability of the vehicle for an inspection.

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Mobile Food Truck