AUSTRALIA – Things started off nicely. When food trucks first rolled up in Australia they were welcomed by local councils. The City of Sydney even went so far as to launch a fleet of especially selected food trucks and produced its own food truck app to help locate them.

But lately the relationship between local government and food trucks has been more strained.

While some councils are still welcoming food trucks, others make it very difficult for them.

Food trucks are banned in Newcastle while the local council drafts a policy, and in Perth a food truck trial is being undertaken which will keep trucks out of the central business district “where established food premises operate”.

Councils are under pressure from more existing food businesses to circumscribe food trucks’ operation.

For Bec Feingold it has been a case of navigating a red tape maze between different councils.

Feimgold got into the food truck business six weeks ago with the launch of her toasted sandwich food truck, Toasta, in Melbourne. She was inspired to start up the truck after spotting a gap in the market for “a food that everyone loves around the clock”.

But she has already run into trouble with the Port Phillip council in Melbourne. Council workers shut her truck down after it operated without a permit.

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