The move comes after a group of more than 25 Greystones-based businesses decided to express growing frustration and disappointment at the lack of meaningful support from Wicklow County Council for the local business community.<\/p>\n
In a blueprint letter issued on October 24, operators of the market are told some businesses feel there is unfair competition in the town during key trading periods.<\/p>\n
The letter was sent as a template, to amend as businesses saw fit or fitted their own points relevant to their business.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s understood not all of them included the points about the Plaza Market.<\/p>\n
Other issues raised affecting local business include the continued closure of the Bray to Greystones Cliff Walk and the regular scheduled disruption to Dart services due to engineering works along the railway line to Bray.<\/p>\n
In the letter issued by Alison Banton from Brooke and Shoals to council chief executive Emer O\u2019Gorman, the Plaza Market, which operates weekly on Sundays during summer and Christmas periods, is accused of \u201cdiverting footfall and spend, away from the employment-creating businesses on Church Road and surrounding areas\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs businesses, we invest heavily in the town all year round. We also actively support local charities, clubs and schools, with both financial donations and fund-raising prizes. The Christmas market is reducing the footfall in the main thoroughfare during key weekends in November and December that local businesses rely on, to balance out the many quiet months of the year,\u201d the letter states.<\/p>\n
The group feel the Christmas market is reducing the footfall in the main thoroughfare during key weekends in November and December that local businesses rely on, to balance out the many quiet months of the year.<\/p>\n
Market organisers have been approached by members of the group to make them aware of their concerns and asked them to consider taking a break this year.<\/p>\n
A suggested compromise proposed allowing the market running on three weekends instead of five and finishing on December 7, leaving the last two weeks of trading to the businesses in the town.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s understood the market team suggested that if their promotional efforts included the whole town, it would raise the shopping profile enough to compensate for the increased competition.<\/p>\n
The group have called on the council to intervene in a situation where they, as commercial rate payers and employers of hundreds of local people believe are \u201cbeing put in a situation of disadvantage\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cLocal businesses have shown resilience through challenging times, but we need tangible support and constructive engagement from Wicklow County Council to ensure our continued viability.\u201d<\/p>\n
In response, operators of the market said they were \u201csaddened\u201d to hear of the development which they contend was \u201cspear headed by a small number of businesses in the town under the guise that they were acting for 25+ businesses\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese businesses have been offered space at the market free of charge and have chosen to decline.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe absolutely understand the challenges faced by all in our community which is why it is more important than ever to keep the market running.\u201d the group added in a statement.<\/p>\n
The market was set up to \u201cprovide a safe space for the diverse community and to offer an opportunity for people from different backgrounds to socialise, interact and build connections\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Plaza Market team are committed to working with the local businesses in Greystones to promote the town as a shopping and recreational destination and highlighted that proceeds after costs will be going to both Wicklow Hospice and Greystones Cancer Support.<\/p>\n
The Plaza Market team has vowed to work together with the affected businesses to \u201cmake Greystones a worthy destination for shopping, dining and recreation\u201d.<\/p>\n
The schism, which had been growing in stature over recent months, has somewhat divided the town.<\/p>\n
Beth Merriman of LaLuna Goodness represents more than 50 traders who are hoping to take part in this year\u2019s Christmas market at the Plaza.<\/p>\n
She says they are very nervous about this latest development.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe statements made about the organisers of the market were, frankly, incorrect, and painted them as unreasonable and unsympathetic towards those businesses, when in fact the opposite is the case.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wholeheartedly agree that the issues around the Cliff Walk, public transport, and the rising rents are serious problems.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs both a local resident, business owner and consumer, I share those frustrations.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Beth feels blaming the market is an easy, and misplaced fix.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout the market, Greystones simply doesn\u2019t have the variety or volume of retail options needed to keep people shopping here.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur traders are craftspeople, artists, and small business owners\u2014most of us solo entrepreneurs who pour our hearts (and often our weekends) into what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beth says the market organisers have gone above and beyond to support the bricks-and-mortar local businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve offered free stalls to promote the businesses, opportunities to hand out leaflets, joint advertising campaigns featuring all of Greystones\u2014with QR codes linking back to local stores.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beth says a collaborative solution needs to be found.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy not a collaborative and collective of businesses, charities and volunteers working together to bring people into the town.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith less than a month before opening, we are under some uncertainty. We\u2019ve bought our materials and prepared our stock ready for market season. If the market is cancelled now, I don\u2019t know what that will mean for some of us.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver 60pc of us are members of local and national creative associations like Made in Wicklow, The Design & Crafts Council of Ireland, and Guaranteed Irish. These groups demand the highest standards of quality and integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councillors in the local district have also been asked to comment on the situation.<\/p>\n
Cllr Stephen Stokes says he\u2019d like to see a positive resolution for shops, independent traders and residents.<\/p>\n
Cllr Stokes has acknowledged that there are very high operating costs for local businesses and appreciates their investment into the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition to creating employment, I acknowledge that our local businesses are always very generous with donating to local causes. I do believe that there is room for local shops and independent traders.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Christmas Plaza Market may also attract some people to the area from further away. Local traders are also likely to spend quite a bit of their money in the local community also.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cllr Stokes said the challenges faced by local shops deserves more financial support from central government.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo help with the situation, I encourage residents to shop local where possible.\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Following a request for comment Wicklow County Council said they have noted the concerns of the main street traders.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe area of the Plaza Market is operated by Sispar under a concession agreement with Wicklow County Council. Our understanding is that these markets are scheduled periodically and would be fully inclusive of all traders wishing to partake.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe operation of markets attracts additional economic benefit to the area and are widely attended by both Greystones locals and visitors to the town.<\/p>\n
\u201cWicklow County Council have indicated to the main street traders that we are happy to facilitate a meeting between nominated representatives of the traders and market operators and will be scheduled in the coming days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The move comes after a group of more than 25 Greystones-based businesses decided to express growing frustration and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[55175,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-115608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-hugh-ofarrell-walsh","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}