The communications botch up forced one woman to sell her business while others were left thousands of dollars out of pocket from the trade restriction.
Mobile traders have certainly been under the spotlight recently and they are right to be angry about the council mistake over the rule change, but the hike in fees is an entirely different matter.
The increase will take the fee up to what some others councils are charging, including Auckland, Hamilton, New Plymouth and Wellington. It also addresses concerns from retailers who own stores and pay rates every year for the privilege.
Perhaps, though, the council could have staggered the increase over several years to give traders time to adjust. It is important that conventional retailers, who are already facing strong competition from online sales, are not disadvantaged for committing to a retail space.
Mobile traders provide colour and variety to the retail scene but there has to be a degree of fairness and these changes appear to go some way towards achieving that.
