The fracas over the Moruya Country Market is a chance for an honest discussion about what the market is, who it works for and how it might look in the future.
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Moruya Rotary’s bid to administer the markets has shown feelings are running high amongst those who support the status quo, as either shoppers, stallholders, performers or recipients of grants – as letters to this page today show. Yet disquiet has also been building from those outside the loop.
No-one can deny the markets bring tourists – and this helps the CBD –but rumbles have been coming for years from shopfronts that some stallholders posed unfair competition.
It must be galling to pay weekly rent, electricity and all the other overheads small shopfronts cannot escape – and then watch a weekly pop-up trader bring goods and produce from outside the shire – or from outside the country – and undercut you every sunny Saturday.
This scenario is entirely separate to those Eurobodalla creators and producers selling wonderful handicrafts, food, seedlings, produce and art. A weekly market is a great leg-up for Eurobodalla ingenuity, but shopfronts would argue it should not be a leg-up for goods trucked in from miles away.
This is a conversation that can no longer be avoided. Limiting the number of stalls to 140, whilst allowing goods with no local provenance, has inevitably meant some Eurobodalla creators and producers remain in the queue.
The Bay Post/Moruya Examiner posted two polls on our website in the past week.
The first asked: “Should the market allow more stallholders and competition?” At the time of going to press, more than 67 per cent of respondents had answered “yes”. We also asked: “Do you support Rotary's bid to take over the market?” More than 59 per cent did not.
This result, while it would never pass Electoral Commission standards, is interesting. A majority of respondents want the market to remain under its current leadership – but also to open up.
Today, we post a new poll: “Should Moruya Country Market reject traders who bring goods from outside the region in direct competition with CBD traders?” We look forward to the results with interest.