Contracts to go out for ice cream vans serving three popular Sheffield parks
Sheffield City Council is looking for ice cream van operators for three popular city parks – and it wants the treats served up without a side order of air pollution.
The council is set to put ice cream van concessions out for tender in Endcliffe, Graves and Weston Parks. The new contracts would start in spring 2025 and run for five to seven years, an extension of the terms of the current three-year agreements.
The issue will be discussed at a meeting of the council’s charity trustee sub-committee next Monday (September 9). The parks are among many in the city that are owned by charitable trusts held by the council.
Currently, Handley Park Catering hold the contracts for Endcliffe and Graves and Peter Devoti has one for Weston Park.
A report to the committee says that the last time the tenders went out, they expected ice cream vans to be compliant with Euro 6 emissions standards. “However, ice cream vans need to keep their engines running in order to power the freezers which store their produce, therefore the current approach is still resulting in fumes being pumped into the air within our parks and often near to playgrounds, which needs addressing.”
The council gets complaints about air pollution coming from vans.
The report adds that discussions have taken place with the current operators about more environmentally-friendly options. The industry has moved towards the use of solar refrigeration and electric vehicles, which cut out engine idling.
The report says that offering longer contracts would help operators to move towards clean air solutions. The council is pledged to reduce city and council emissions to net zero by 2030.