Iconic Auckland food truck fears closure | WATCH

Late-night burger joint, The White Lady, came under scrutiny in April 2022 when Auckland Council reduced its annual licence to six weeks after complaints from a nearby business.

The council has since granted a three-month licence until September while it investigates.

The White Lady owner Max Washer told Morning Report they had tried to work with the council to sort out any problems, but he was worried they might be micromanaged out of business.

Washer said the scrutiny facing the burger joint stemmed from a council-imposed relocation of the business due to works on the local bus network.

The relocation had led to a nearby business raising concerns about The White Lady blocking the footpath late at night and the presence of intoxicated patrons.

However, Washer said the shop did not even serve alcohol.

“We’re a small family business, we’ve got 20 staff and we’re very close to them all, we really look after our staff and we know they do a good job for us.

“We’re doing our best to work with the problems but it just sort of seems like an impossible task.”

Washer said neighbouring businesses’ concerns had been exacerbated by the struggle he faced to recruit trained staff.

The business had picked up much of the demand from nearby food businesses that had shut up shop in the wake of the Covid-19 lockdowns, he said.

The White Lady has since taken several steps to alleviate the concerns of nearby shopowners, including putting bollards in place to deter people from blocking the footpath and relocating the shop around their site to find the best solution to the issues raised to council.

Meanwhile, staff are now urged to check for rubbish around the burger joint every half an hour.