Report weighs into Bantry market row
The report advocates a restructuring of the markets, including the traditional fair day on the first Friday of every month, in an effort to develop the street bazaar as a potential tourist attraction in the harbour town.
A further recommendation is the proposed appointment of a market manager, based on European models, to regulate the attraction.
Despite several amendments to casual trading laws throughout the 1980s and 1990s, local authorities have been unable to enforce revised regulations in Bantry due to loopholes discovered by street traders.
Haunted by problems such as location, parking and litter, rows over the casual trading have ended up before the district courts and, currently in a test case, before the High Court.
The report, commissioned by the West Cork Community Partnerships (WCCP) and supported by FÁS, also recommends regular consultation between the local authorities, market streets, gardaí, local rate payers and the public.
Compiled by Peter Tomesen following research earlier this year, the report includes the results of a survey of market traders, permanent businesses and consumers.
The Bantry-based WCCP manager, Fergal Conlon, said the next step was in the hands of all the parties involved.
“The raw material for a solution has been prepared,” he said, “but it is now up to Cork County Council, local businesses and market traders to sit down together and devise an amicable solution.”
The report suggests the trading stalls should be shifted from town centre parking bays onto the town square plaza.
Historically, street traders are allowed to set up casual businesses in the town centre, known as the Wolfe Tone Square town lots. However, a multimillion euro revamp of the square in the late 1990s led to the county council designating a new casual trading area on reclaimed foreshore nearby.
The council also attempted to introduce permits to regulate street traders.
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