Liberal Democrat Councillor Trudy Dean joined The Kent Morning Show to talk about why she set up the petition.
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00:00Well, we felt that the Borough Council needed more of a push to agree what we wanted to do.
00:05We feel it's a complete no-brainer. The market stallholders need a period of eight hours of
00:13parking in order to set up their stalls, trade and then pack up afterwards. And the Borough
00:19Council has put in a limit of four hours maximum. And that just means they can't trade.
00:25Trudie, good morning. It's Gabriel here. Now, this market runs once a month on the fourth
00:30Sunday of the month. That pretty could be the last Sunday of the month, but it seems to be
00:34very well known in Westmoreland. For people maybe not familiar to Westmoreland, paint a
00:38picture. How important is this to the local community and how important is it also to those
00:42traders? Well, it's very important to the local community, as you can see from the number of
00:47people who signed the petition very, very quickly. It's become very much a social event for people
00:52locally. People go to meet friends and buy some of the fast food that's on sale. We have special
01:03people invited occasionally for promoting local charities and so on. Our local councillors do
01:11surgeries wandering around the market so that people could come up and ask us questions as well.
01:17We have a really wide range of stalls. It's one of the largest in Kent, nearly 40 stalls totally.
01:25And well, to explain how important it is, it actually continued to run the whole time
01:32right throughout Covid. So whilst all the shops were closed, the supermarkets and so on were
01:36closed, the market traders remained loyal to Westmoreland and carried on. And to my knowledge,
01:43never, ever miss the market. They're there, rain or shine, right through all kinds of weather.
01:49And just take us through what these new restrictions will mean for traders. You
01:53haven't actually had a market yet since they came into force. The council says that there
01:58are other places that traders can park and that people can can park up, but you're saying it's
02:03not enough. Well, if there are, we haven't found them yet. And by God, we've looked.
02:09We need about 40 mountains parked up, either very close to the market or within the
02:17market itself. If we try to park all of the vehicles within the market itself, we
02:23haven't got room for them all. And therefore, the market would have to shrink to about half its size.
02:29We think it's very important that the market takes place in our 12th century market square.
02:35It's what it was meant for. And it's quite a restricted area there for it to open. And we
02:42like the look of the market, which is that it's wholly market stalls, not something that looks
02:48like a boot there, you know. And therefore, we need it to be central in the town. And that's what
02:57the stallholders like. That's what customers like. It is a market in a marketplace. So it feels
03:05very much like a rural country market. And it has a very, very wide range of produce available.
03:12Well, Trudy, there was a public consultation on these parking changes. And 94% were opposed to
03:21the changes, which I'm sure you're not surprised by what you're saying. But at the time, Mount
03:25Broughton leader of the council says, you don't see turkeys voting for Christmas. Is he right by
03:29what he's saying there?
03:32Well, up to a point, as far as the farmers market is concerned, the farmers market stallholders are
03:39perfectly happy to pay the additional charges that they need for their parking, which is what
03:45they do in Tunbridge and in other places in the borough. But for some reason, the borough council
03:49decided to put this limit on Westmoreland only. And if you can't have enough hours to actually
03:58set up and run your stall, then the market can't open. It's as simple as that. It's a no brainer.
04:05And we've just seen a picture on the screen there of yourself and some of those other councillors
04:09handing in that petition. It's reached enough. So it's got enough people backing it now that
04:15it means that a debate will happen. No doubt you'll be around there for that debate. I don't
04:19know the ins and outs. Will you be able to speak in it? What will you be saying if so?
04:24Yes, we are able to speak. All of the promoters are able to speak. It's in the cabinet meeting
04:32on the 1st of April. And yes, we will be telling the story, really. We have a market that's been
04:40successful. It's been loyal to Westmoreland through thick and thin. The customers want it
04:45to continue. And if we have simply the same regulations as, for instance, they apply at
04:51Tunbridge Farmers Market, which is that the stallholders can buy the extra hours that they
04:57need for parking, then we have no problem. What would you say to the council this morning,
05:03if Matt's watching this, if one of his team are watching it this morning, Matt Borton,
05:06leader of the Borough Council, what would you say to them? Because if this doesn't go your way,
05:12if they don't listen to the petition, and the changes to the parking do go ahead,
05:16what could ultimately happen to the farmers market?
05:20Well, it will either shrink to less than half the size that it currently is,
05:26or it will have to cease trading. Because we're one of the very few markets in Kent,
05:31which actually take place in the high street. And so we have to close the high street completely.
05:37And there's a cost to that. And the farmers market stallholders pay for that in their fees.
05:43And if the market has to shrink to half or less than half of its current size, there may not be
05:49sufficient income coming in from the stallholders fees to pay for those extra charges. We have
05:56charges, for instance, of having to put up extra signage and barriers to prevent people driving
06:01through the market and other restrictions like that for which there's a cost. But we really want
06:08our market to continue to be held in the place where it should be held.