FRANK DELANEY has a small poultry farm on Neat Marsh Road, Preston and hopes to be able to use the 7-acre site to hold a Farmers’ Market every week on Saturdays. The venue for the market is a large barn which would provide cover for the indoor market, but the outside-area could be utilised for stalls in better weather and there is ample land to be developed for car-parking.
Frank is seeking local views about the idea which would provide a useful outlet for local farmers, growers and crafts people. It would also plug a gap in local provision, the nearest Farmers’ Market being ten miles away in Hessle. “There would be nothing else like this in the local area,” says Frank, “you have to travel miles to the Humber Bridge to find the nearest Farmers Market – and that only takes place every month.”
Following a serious accident two years ago, the amount of time that Frank can spend working on his chicken farm has been limited. The Farmers’ Market would allow him to diversify into a different area and would also enable him to employ some local people to help.
“People have been very positive about the idea,” says Frank, “but I would really like more feedback from local people about the idea. I would like to use that information to share with local planners from the council.”
Farmers’ Markets traditionally make available more local, fresher and seasonal produce. They allow the farmers and other stall-holders to sell directly to the public. By cutting down on the ‘middlemen’ the costs to the customer should be cheaper whilst maximising the profits to the stall-holder. Farmers’ Markets can also become a great community attraction in a local area and bring in more visitors.
So what do you think? Would you use a local Farmers Market in Preston regularly?
Let us know on the Hedon Blog and we will pass your comments and thoughts on to Frank. You can leave comments in the box below, and use your Facebook and Twitter accounts to do so – but if you have any difficulties, then please e-mail them to hedonblog@gmx.com and we can insert them for you.
UPDATE: We’ve added the Opinion Poll which has already featured on the HU12 Online republication of this article. If you have completed the Poll there, you wont be able to do it here as well. It takes seconds to do!
I would love a farmers market in Hedon and think its a great idea. I don’t drive so Neat Marsh would be to far away for me.
We have had reports that some people have had difficulty posting comments?
You can leave comments in the box below, and use your Facebook and Twitter accounts to do so – but if you have any difficulties, then please e-mail them to hedonblog@gmx.com and we can insert them for you.
A good tip when posting any comments that may be quite long – copy your words first using ctrl+A and ctrl+C before posting, then if things don’t publish as planned, ctrl+V will bring your original words back.
There is a need for a Farmers market and it should be commended as anything that offers opportunity to show what produce is available from local producers, neat marsh :
lane gives direct access to Franks site and should not be a issue if drivers use common sense.
Thanks for your comments folks; keep them coming please! We are seeking views on this from the wider Holderness area too, so have republished the article on HU12 Online: http://www.hu12online.net/debate/farmers-market-serving-south-holderness-your-views-sought/
We have now included the opinion poll from HU12 in the article above.
I’m sure the problems of access aren’t unsurmountable, I’m sure the roads can be set up in such a way as one is for access and the other egress?
I must agree with Neil. The problems of access for large numbers of vehicles including those of the traders themselves could be too big to work through. However the need for a local farmers’ market is self evident given the right site and reasonable centrality, access and parking.
I’ve commented on the other thread on hu12 , but to repeat for Hedon bloggers , its a great idea , however i can see this being a huge attraction , and am unsure if the infrastructure could cope, neat marsh lane, middle lane and acey lane are all single track roads not capable of taking large amounts of traffic, This would be a great idea for Hedon though, market hill being my venue of choice(the clue is in the name) Would be a huge attraction for the town generating business for all surrounding shops and venues.
Great idea – fortnightly maybe better than weekly- and good quality, fresh produce. I agree with others though- some farmer’s markets are way over priced so prices need to be affordable. We also need sites for local crafts – fab idea!
I live locally and think it would be a terrific idea. I would use it !! Also in this area we only have Paull once a month for a carboot sale, so dont know if this would be an option too?
Definitely yes! Fresh + local – what is there not to like?
Sounds like a great idea to me, I’d love to buy fresh local produce.
Farmers market we would be great, so.long as it’s good quality, reasonably priced local produce.
Maybe fortnightly would be better to start with see if demand for weekly?
Def yes. Do it. Not sure weekly ? Fortnightly.
Agree with Mark. Spot on idea, but weekly might be a bit optomistic.
Also, if Frank is interested in diversifying, I’ve been looking for a small amount of cheap indoor storage for a boat on a trailer – nearest I can find is either outdoor caravan storage or a site near Withersea which is too far to travel regularly.
There is a real need for this sort of thing locally, as I’ve tried Hedon, Preston and Paull area with no luck.
Cheers,
James.