Burger van owners beg council to rethink Stirling Corner no-trading zone

11:11am Wednesday 20th February 2013 in News By Anna Slater

Tracy Tibbles Tracy Tibbles

Burger van owners will “not go down without a fight” if plans to make the area they trade in a no-parking zone come into force.

Gordon and Tracy Tibbles have been selling food from the Snack Bar, in Stirling Way, for 19 years – but Hertsmere Borough Council is consulting over whether traders should be banned from operating there.

The van is parked on the slip road outside Morrisons opposite Stirling Corner, a notorious accident hot-spot which drivers say is “terrifying”.

But father-of-five Mr Tibbles, who is campaigning to make the area safer, said crashes tend to happen on the other side of the roundabout to his van. 

He added: “If I thought the crashes were all my fault I would be out of there in a shot – but I just do not see how the two are linked.

“It is going to wreck everything we have spent so long building. This is our life and our only source of income – what would we do without it? There is nowhere for us to go.

“It just seems so unfair because we have been here for so long without a problem. It is ridiculous the council can just come in and do this.”

The 62-year-old is now urging people respond to the consultation “carefully” to save his business.

Mr Tibbles and his wife have both started a petition to beg the borough council to withdraw the consultation, and so far around 2,000 people have recognised their plight.

Mrs Tibbles said: “This will be 19 years of hard work down the drain. It does not seem like the council knows the full facts – if it did, this would not be happening.

“They do not care about us and it is very sad. We will not go down without a fight – we built this place from scratch and it means everything to us.

“The thought of losing it is really unbearable.”

Councillor Jean Heywood, portfolio holder for transport and environment said: “We have received numerous complaints about road and pedestrian safety, illegal parking, litter and congestion.

“Letters have been sent to traders who may be affected by this proposal, the police, Hertfordshire Highways, councillors and other local businesses.

“All views on this issue will be taken into consideration before any decision is made as to whether to proceed with a formal public consultation.

“The roundabout at Stirling Corner is extremely busy. We have to balance the safety of pedestrians, motorists, bus passengers and the customers who use the food vans, with the needs of traders and local businesses.”

Comments(14)

mr.taxpayer says...
9:42pm Wed 20 Feb 13

How can accidents on a badly laid out roundabout be anything to do with a guy who sells burgers nearby?

Madness

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studio 70 says...
8:07am Thu 21 Feb 13

Cause of Botulism and obesity maybe but car crashes....come off it- we all know that we need lights on this roudabout and blaming burger wagons is pathetic. Maybe it is the fault of those pesky mobile homes or those jazzy window displays at Morrisons.

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studio 70 says...
8:09am Thu 21 Feb 13

By the way is that the highest burger van window ever or is that bloke very wee?

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DrHarris says...
8:57am Fri 22 Feb 13

Councillors are embarrassing themselves again if they think this burger van is causing any issues. At worst it should be asked to move a couple of meters further away from the roundabout.

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mrskutela says...
9:38am Fri 22 Feb 13

this is my mums and steps dads family run burger van. we have never ever seen or heard a car accident along this slip road that the buger van is situated. ALL the accidents happen are on the round about so how the council can say we cause them i do not no!! this buger van has never ever missed a day trading through out the year apart from 25th dec till the 28th dec. come rain shine or even snow they make it up there because our customers expect us to be there... this burger van also raises money for charity. mrs tibbles and my self and my sister all run the race for life every year and raise over £600 pounds for cancer research each year plus we have a charity box on display all year round to collect for charity aswell!! this is not just any old radom burger van that just comes up every morning and does food. we take pride in what we do and we do it to a very high standard and we no this because everyone tells us...
my mum and step dad have worked very hard to get where they are now and to jungle a family which actually is 9 kids in total and that was hard work.but they struggled through it and made this work, but now after 19 years the council have given up on them. we need support to stop this from happening.......

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markwoods says...
7:25pm Fri 22 Feb 13

umm has this got something to do with the new cafe at scratchwood park ? how can a burger van cause accidents ? if there are more accidents I would blame Morrison for the extra traffic they bring in.I would kick them off Stirling corner then you will see the accident decline, oh hang on they are big people they can't do that can they ?.How can these people be kicked off after 19 yrs ? it's not right or fair.I do hope these people fight to the end to keep what they have worked for for the last 19yrs. I do get fed up with the council trying to put laws in just to make people lives harder to make a living ?.

I do hope Morrisons gets kicked off as this why there is so much traffic and accidents ?

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studio 70 says...
10:10pm Fri 22 Feb 13

markwoods wrote:
umm has this got something to do with the new cafe at scratchwood park ? how can a burger van cause accidents ? if there are more accidents I would blame Morrison for the extra traffic they bring in.I would kick them off Stirling corner then you will see the accident decline, oh hang on they are big people they can't do that can they ?.How can these people be kicked off after 19 yrs ? it's not right or fair.I do hope these people fight to the end to keep what they have worked for for the last 19yrs. I do get fed up with the council trying to put laws in just to make people lives harder to make a living ?. I do hope Morrisons gets kicked off as this why there is so much traffic and accidents ?
Don’t be so ridiculous, the council would never engage in such self serving tactics!
19 year of free enterprise and all of a sudden it’s “sling your hook; you are the cause of all the accidents” “oh and can I have a bacon roll seeing as I’m here”. If this van is still in business after Morrisons have opened then they must be doing something right, so leave them be- is this indicative of why the high street is full of empty shops?
Maybe the council need to invite Mr and Mrs Tibbles in to offer them some business advice as it would appear they know what sells.
Personally I have never shopped at Morrisons or eaten at a burger van but each to their own.

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Mill-Hill-Boy says...
11:34pm Fri 22 Feb 13

Stupid Hertsmere council. Instead of lobbying transport for London to build a bridge or tunnel they are intimidating hard working small businesses again trying to blame it on litter, how pathetic.
The accidents have nothing to do with burgers or Morrisons. Just a poor road design, growing population and neglected infrastructure that they are doing nothing productive about. No wonder employers want to leave the borough and move to East London where there is alot of investment forward thinking. Shame on Hertsmere council once again for penalising and stressing out small businesses and hard working people.

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Sarah1969 says...
11:46am Sat 23 Feb 13

The traffic and accidents have nothing to do with the snack bar at Stirling way everything was going ok until morrissons arrived and now decided to put a petrol station there if that's not going to cause traffic and problems I don't know what is also building a cafe in the woods wonder if that's got anything to do with trying to get rid of the snack bars could hertsmere council answer one question if Stirling way was such a problem for traffic and accidents why did they allow another burger van to park there called paprika house which blocks people's view of pulling out of morrissons car park it don't make sense

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Paul Childs says...
7:44pm Sun 24 Feb 13

Glad to see the Borehamwood Times helping out the small businesses.
I can't believe the council would even consider forcing closure on these businesses in this current climate when there is little or no chance of them being re sited or finding alternative employment.
Based on the traffic problem i feel bemused by there statement claiming
these Burger vans could be the possible cause to accidents on the A1
but grant planning permission to Morrisons a large super market chain
that causes far more of a traffic problem than these Burger Vans ever.
What concerns me more is that these businesses were there long before
Morrisons was, so why is it that they have to loose there businesses.
I feel that because they can't defend themselves against the council or the influence of Morrisons they will be forced out of business.
Lets all pull together show some Dunkirk spirit & help out Gordon & Tracy
plus all concerned to save there lively hoods.
If you read these notes & happen to work for the Sun or Daily Mail please help out the Borehamwood Times in this worthy campaign to save some local businesses.

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Gallarda says...
10:51am Mon 25 Feb 13

Everyone knows its about the lights, its like a motorway with a roundabout! ITS DREADFUL that is!!!!

The van is so far away from it, shall i say the curve to morrisons could be the problem more quickly rather than the van stil this is not the problem.

to me sounds like blaming, saving money, or intention to build something there... its the most awkard blame i have ever come across with.

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Gallarda says...
10:59am Mon 25 Feb 13

Sarah1969 wrote:
The traffic and accidents have nothing to do with the snack bar at Stirling way everything was going ok until morrissons arrived and now decided to put a petrol station there if that's not going to cause traffic and problems I don't know what is also building a cafe in the woods wonder if that's got anything to do with trying to get rid of the snack bars could hertsmere council answer one question if Stirling way was such a problem for traffic and accidents why did they allow another burger van to park there called paprika house which blocks people's view of pulling out of morrissons car park it don't make sense
I agree, that one there is a pain when you want to pull out of morrisons and the street is already so busy with all the busy trucks etc etc etc

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Gallarda says...
11:02am Mon 25 Feb 13

markwoods wrote:
umm has this got something to do with the new cafe at scratchwood park ? how can a burger van cause accidents ? if there are more accidents I would blame Morrison for the extra traffic they bring in.I would kick them off Stirling corner then you will see the accident decline, oh hang on they are big people they can't do that can they ?.How can these people be kicked off after 19 yrs ? it's not right or fair.I do hope these people fight to the end to keep what they have worked for for the last 19yrs. I do get fed up with the council trying to put laws in just to make people lives harder to make a living ?. I do hope Morrisons gets kicked off as this why there is so much traffic and accidents ?
No doubt, when morrisons opened there was a hugeeeeeeeeee traffic there! til today. and they know this but because theyre big who gets blamed? the small burguer van!

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DrHarris says...
12:33am Tue 26 Feb 13

As mentioned on a previous post, if an additional entrance off Barnet Lane is made for Morrisons it would make the roundabout less congested. The problem is that small 5th slip road exit so close to 2 bigger exits.

I remember before Christmas is was the Tree selling being blamed for the accidents, now its the burger van.

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