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Apply for a trading licence

Check the information below on where and what you can trade, and how to apply for permission or a licence.

Council policy

The rules for trading in public places for commercial are set out in the Trading in Public Places Policy:

Trading and Events in Public Places Policy 2021

Where you can trade

Private property

Trading from a private property is preferable, as long as you first have the property owner's permission and there are no adverse safety or traffic impacts.

Public property

You can apply to trade at public places such as on road reserves, footpaths, parks and sportsfields.

The Council will consider applications to trade from specific locations based on these factors:

• safety for pedestrians
• nature of the goods to be sold
• appearance of the proposed stall
• impact on the neighbouring properties
• layout of the proposed location.

What you can trade

You will need to apply for a trading licence for any of these trading activities:

• professional dog walking
• group fitness classes
• busking
• temporary retail and food stalls (for example, a coffee cart)
• retail kiosks
• recreational equipment hire
• hawking
• open-air markets.

Food

You also need to apply for a Certificate of Registration if you want to prepare or sell food from any private or public property anywhere in Wellington. For help with your registration, contact the Public Health Team.

Selling food

Hawking

Hawking is trading from a vehicle where you stop long enough to sell to a customer, for example, an ice-cream van.

You do not need to have a trading licence to hawk goods. However, to hawk food, you need to apply for a Certificate of Registration using our Selling Food application.

Hawking is only allowed in the suburbs outside the central business district.

Christmas trees

You can sell Christmas trees in public places outside the central business district.

You need to follow some commonsense conditions around public safety, access and considering others. If you don't meet these conditions, you may be asked to leave.

Conditions for selling Christmas trees (44KB PDF)

You may be able to get a trading licence to use a specific public site within the central business district, but first you would need to send us a proposal, including details of where, when, and size of the proposed temporary stall.

Charity stalls

If you want to run a not-for-profit charity stall on a public footpath, then you need to get approval from the Street Activities Coordinator. Charity stalls are typically only approved in:

• Cuba Mall
• Wellington suburbs.

Apply for a trading licence

If you want to propose a new trading activity in a public place, contact the Street Activities Coordinator to discuss your proposal.