Farmers’ market hits red tape
Stallholders want Norwich Farmers’ Market to be one of the best in the UK. But their plans for a vibrant new attraction on Gentleman’s Walk are being stifled by the City Council. The sticking point – serving hot food.
Last Sunday there were just a handful of stalls on Gentleman’s Walk making up the city’s current Farmers’ Market. But a group of stallholders have a vision for the market. They want it to be a proper destination that will attract people into the city, alive with producers from across Norfolk.
The group have come together under the banner of The Norfolk Diet, who want to celebrate the great food and drink that Norfolk has to offer.
As well as having a large range of stallholders, part of the vision involves serving hot food. Smoke Shack, a new venture who offer spicy barbecued dishes such as pulled pork and beef brisket, would love the chance to join the Farmers’ Market. Another idea is to invite pubs, like the Unthank Arms and restaurants like Morston Hall, to come along to give people a taste of the sort of dishes they have on offer. They’d even like to stage cookery displays to draw people in.
They put their ideas to the city council in a meeting yesterday. Amy Lyall, a spokesperson for Norwich City Council said: “There are a number of issues which make the sale of hot food on Gentleman’s Walk difficult. This is a busy shopping street and there would be a health and safety risk. There are also a number of hot food stalls on Norwich Market and Norwich Market stallholders have the option to open on Sundays. The Farmers’ Market stalls would cause unacceptably high levels of competition among hot food stalls in that area.”
Sarah Pettegree from Brays Cottage Pork Pies, who’s been in talks with the council said this is preventing entrepreneurship and promoting good local produce: “It just makes the whole thing feel like you’re starting to operate with one hand tied behind your back.”
She adds: “Ideally we’d like the market to be on Sundays, on Gentleman’s Walk, working with Norwich City Council. We just need the concession of being able to cook. The summer is the best time for farmers’ markets and time is ticking by, so we need to act soon.” The stallholders are aiming high: by 2013 they want to be included in The Times top 12 Farmers’ Markets in the UK.
But Amy Lyall added there may be a solution if the Farmers’ Market looks at different venues: “We do appreciate that the stallholders want to serve hot food and while we cannot allow it on Gentleman’s Walk there are other sites around Norwich, such as Chapelfield and the Forum, where it would be possible to do this. We would recommend the stallholders explore these options as well, as it may be a better solution for the Farmers’ Market to move from Gentleman’s Walk.”
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Norwich City Council added this statement: “The city council fully supports the Farmers’ Market, allowing stallholders to rent space on one of the busiest and most expensive shopping streets in the country at the heavily preferential rate of £135 plus vat and £15 street trading a day – working out at approximately £13 each for the 12 stalls.
“We are surprised this has been interpreted as a lack of support.
“The European Market, which only visits twice a year, has a special events licence to be allowed to serve hot food. The Farmers’ Market is once every two weeks, which is too frequent to be eligible for this.”