Girl's lemonade stand shut down by WA council over health and safety concerns

Updated

An 11-year-old girl's cupcake and lemonade stand has been shut down by Bunbury city council officers over health and safety concerns.

Chelsea-lee Downes had set up a roadside stall in the South-West city, selling homemade lemonade, cupcakes and lemon meringue pie.

Her step-mother Marissa said Chelsea-lee was simply trying to make some money before Christmas.

"It is such a sad day when a kid can't make a bit of extra cash just selling a few cupcakes and lemonade," Ms Ruderforth told 720 ABC Perth.

She said Chelsea-lee was devastated when council staff shut the stall down before it had even opened.

The council was alerted after the Ruderforths promoted the stall on social media several days before it was set up.

A member of the public then reported the stall to the council.

Environmental health manager Sarah Upton said when staff arrived to shut it down, Chelsea had not even finished setting up.

"The city actually received a complaint about the type of food products that she was using, and also where she was set up was unsafe for people to pull over," Ms Upton said.

I just think customers go there knowing it's an 11-year-old girl's stall. If you don't want to buy, then don't. Marissa Ruderforth

"The city applauds her efforts in trying to be entrepreneurial, but it is important to seek professional advice in relation to legal requirements.

"Custard and cream are very high risk products. Those products cannot be manufactured at home for sale.

"She was also set up on a busy road on a council verge so there was nowhere for people to pull off the road safely."

Ms Ruderforth said it was disappointing that the council did not tell them of the complaint earlier, and she felt buyers could have used their discretion.

"When we did it, we did a big cafe set up so we moved quite a bit of furniture and Chelsea got up at 4am to start cooking, so it was all fresh," she said.

"We had our four-wheel-drive with a fridge, we had ice - everyone is aware what you need to do with food.

"We did understand the principle, but I just think customers go there knowing it's an 11-year-old girl's stall.

"If you don't want to buy, then don't."

Ms Ruderforth said Chelsea-lee had been boosted by the community support.

"On the day she was quite devastated, but now she's quite motivated by everyone's support," she said.

The unsold cakes were given away to family and friends, and the council said it would look at helping Chelsea-lee set up another stall - this time within the regulations.

"If she can look at manufacturing food in a commercial kitchen, then there is a possibility that she will be able to do it in the future," Ms Upton said.

"We would obviously give her some advice to make sure that it was safe for everybody in how she was manufacturing and storing it, but it is mainly the high-risk products that are causing the issue."

Topics: environmental-health, children, local-government, bunbury-6230, perth-6000

First posted