Abingdon Country Market are now a regular at the quarterly Local Excellence Market.
I was told by Paul, collecting rent from stall holders, that there were more stalls than ever before. The plant stall was doing particularly well.
I expect some of the stalls, like Chillis 2 U, will be back in Abingdon next weekend at Miele’s, on 7th June, for the 2nd Abingdon Food Festival. (You can pre-book Chef demonstrations, and Wine and Cheese tastings on their website.)
Market Place events do seem to increase the footfall, and buggy fall, in Abingdon town centre.
I did hear that there has been some systematic destruction of advertising signs on lampposts over the last 2 or 3 months in Abingdon. Signs worth around £800 have been ripped down. (Evidence of ‘sign vandalism’ should be sent to the proper authorities. We know it is not any of the councils.)
Signs attached to lamp posts etc are in fact illegal unless there is permission given by the local highway authority (OCC – its a distraction to the motorist and don’t conform to highway regulations). I had a mate who was a highways inspector and particularly the overnight repair crews were under instruction to take down signs. So if the signs have just gone then the culprit could be the county council
Would this ruling apply to those huge and ugly signs which MacDonald’s have along their fencing? The latest informs us (sadly) that they are now open for 24 hours on 3 days.
What a contrast to the Excellence Market.
I somehow missed the latter…..were there any signs up which I failed to notice?
Due to the issue of signs going “missing” there were less advertising signs for the Local Excellence market this time that previously. All 3 councils have confirmed that they have not been removing them. In some cases part of the signs have been left up, so it looks as if they are being “ripped down”.
My understanding has always been that the Vale are the authority who give approval for signs on lamp-posts etc in town: regular users such as the Local Excellence Markets and Farmers Markets negotiate agreements with them and are scrupulous about adhering to them. Unless it has changed recently, the Vale’s policy for community and charity events is that they do not require formal applications for signs which are put up a reasonable time in advance, and are “reasonable” in terms of number, size, location etc – it is also essential that the organisers remove them soon after the event. So while not ideal, a system of common sense on both sides has seemed to work for the last few years.
Commercial organisations should go through the Vale Planning system – and people with concerns about signs can raise them with the Vale.
Thank you Hester for that information. I intend to get in touch with the Vale about other issues too. If I can find my way through their website!!
It was a brilliant market and Abingdon felt vibrant and alive. A real feel good feeling.