A Bureta mobile trader accused of taking business from nearby cafes says he is just trying to make a living after council jeopardised his summer income by approving licences for similar traders.

Mike Wade-French began operating his 2Go Espresso business from his property on Bureta Road, opposite the old Bureta Trust site, on Monday.

2Go Espresso Ltd owner Mike Wade-French outside his mobile coffee shop in Bureta Road.

Since then Tauranga City Council has received two complaints about his operations, which claim he is taking business away from nearby cafes on Bureta Road.

Mike says he is only trying to make a living, just like anyone else, and it is not his intention to draw business away from the others.

'The main reason I have done it is because of the construction across the road. At the moment it is just a few construction workers but there will be more,” says Mike.

'I wasn't starting it thinking ‘I can take some of the business off them'. I'm making the most of this opportunity, because if council wants me to pay rates and fees it has to come from somewhere.”

And Mike, who has operated the mobile business for the last two years, is legally within his rights as he owns the front unit at the Bureta Road address and has gained permission from surrounding residents.

The coffee connoisseur is one of six mobile traders awarded a licence to trade at Mount Maunganui's Main Beach during summer, but believes TCC's lack of providing specialised stalls has forced him to look for other locations to gain revenue.

'I have a few issues with council because the first time [2012/13 summer] I was the only coffee stall and then this time around there was one main competitor, who did everything – hot dogs, fish and chips and coffee – so that effectively meant half my business was gone.

'I had to sit there for six weeks and watch half my business walk past me with coffees in hand; so it's really frustrating.”

Last December, Tauranga District Licensing Agency chairman John Payne told SunLive council had 15 tenders for six summer spaces and that competition would not be an issue in the tender process.

'We honestly don't look at where they are from; it is fair and open to everybody. But we want to make sure we don't have six ice cream operators,” John said at the time.

Tauranga City Council environmental monitoring acting manager, Andrew McMath, says council will investigate the complaints within the home-based business rules of the City Plan.

The City Plan's definition for home-based businesses is 'an occupation, craft, business or activity that is clearly incidental to the permitted residential use of a site and is conducted on a repetitive basis for commercial gain, and includes premises used for the purpose of home based childcare”.

Under the City Plan a home-based business can be operated within most residential zones, all rural zones and in the rural residential zone.

'First we would determine exactly what type of activity is undertaken and get a little more detail around that; then we will match that against the permitted activities in the City Plan,” says Andrew.

'If they don't match we will give him the heads up on that and he will be entitled to change his activities so they are compliant. Or if we think that he doesn't want to change his activity he can apply for resource consent. If he refuses both those options we would need to take a firmer line.”

Matt says these types of complaints are not unusual.

'We would get hundreds of these types of complaints a year.”

Nearby café - Lynne's Kitchen - owner Lynne Cudby was unable to be reached for comment on the proximity to her business, which is about 100 metres away from Mike's property.