A November 24 market, and a summer market, is on the table

The council says it will allow Slow Food Hunter Valley to hold another market on November 24, and is also open to the idea of a market over the summer months. 

It comes after farmers raised concerns about how they would sell their summer crops to shoppers if the monthly markets finished in October.

Last week’s market signaled the end of the six month trial in The Levee outside Millers, which Maitland council agreed to as part of its place activation pilot project aimed at informing council's future policies.

It was agreed the markets would be held on the fourth Thursday of the month. The first took place in May.

Santa Claus will be moving into the market’s spot in November, so the council has offered Slow Food a smaller spot on the western side of The Hatch. 

The council has also confirmed it is open to a summer market in the precinct, but will need Slow Food to submit a proposal before it will be considered. 

Slow Food Hunter Valley leader Amorelle Dempster said the smaller site would be suitable during the summer months and the group would make a submission to host the event. 

“We won’t have the bulky items over the next few months, except for the watermelons and rockmelons, which won’t be ready until December, so the secondary site will work for us,” she said.

“It’s important that we keep the momentum going –  the farmers have put in a lot of crops to meet the demand.”

Council’s marketing and communications manager Rachel MacLucas said the council would consider a report from Slow Food about the market’s success before it looks at the viability of ongoing pop-up stalls in The Levee.

“There is the possibility for a similar style pop-up stall to be held within the Shared Zone over summer,” she said.

The council will not decide whether the markets will be a permanent fixture next year until this happens.

Construction of the riverlink building will not impact on the market.