Anglesey Trading Standards have cranked-up their campaign, utilising Council resourcesto damage no-Council run markets in Anglesey whilst in neighbouring Gwynedd the Council has a laissez-faire policy towards non-Council markets.
Anglesey Trading Standards not only police non-Council markets but they also run Anglesey Council's own markets in Holyhead, Amlwch, Llangefni and the once a year Menai Bridge market. Despite being made aware of Leeds City Council v Watson case where the judge in his Obiter Dicta said that the Council was conflicted as operator and policer of markets, Anglesey Trading Standards continue to ignore this case.
Unsurprisingly, Anglesey Trading Standards running of it's own Council markets has been a unmitigated disaster blaming others for the decline of Council run markets. Apparently non-Council markets (according to Trading Standards) have damaged town centres. Bearing in mind Trading Standards are under the umbrella of The Corporate Director who is also responsible for Planning then Trading Standards might consider what planning policies led to Amlwch, Holyhead and Llangefni's retail core decline? Blaming for instance Valley Market for the decline of Holyhead Town Centre is a bit rich when the town centre shopping has shifted to "out of town" by a direct policy of the Council itself.
Turning to the management or rather mis-management of Anglesey Council's own markets, Trading Standards have much explaining to do. We will be requesting information under the FOI Act 2000 to uncover the shambolic mess that is Trading Standards attempt to run markets and the steady flow of traders giving up because of "viability, cost, attitude of the Head of Trading Standards towards traders" It would appear that Anglesey Trading Standards are deeply unpopular amongs traders - because of how they run Council owned markets.
We need to find the truth about why Anglesey Council's markets have declined to such an extent that they are barely operating whereas privately run non-Council markets in Anglesey are thriving. What has led to this decline, why does Trading Standards continue to want to police markets whilst also running it's own markets? Conflict of interest......just a bit!
Stay Tuned
A very interesting story. If you'd like to contact me at photon@imap.cc?
I can't quite make sense of the fuss that's made and money spent on trying to prop up markets that it's clear few want any more. Amlwch market is often reduced to a single key cutting stand, and Llangefni often has only one or two stands out of the peak season.
It's time the council stopped wasting time on ideas that belong to the past and concentrated on ideas for the future. But that needs clever thinking...
Posted by: The Photon | June 06, 2011 at 08:49 AM