Sydney vegan market finds new home at Moore Park EQ
The Sydney Vegan Market has found a new home at Moore Park’s entertainment quarter, delivering a multimillion-dollar blow to the inner west.
Inner West
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THE Sydney Vegan Market has found a new home at Moore Park’s entertainment quarter, delivering a multimillion-dollar blow to the inner west.
The huge loss has sparked fears the inner west is losing its creative and progressive edge after a proposal to entice artists and musicians to Sydenham was killed off in February while another creative hub planned for Marrickville is at risk.
The Addison Rd Community Centre copped a $6000 fine in March when it hosted the market, which attracted 120 stalls and about 6000 people, far exceeding its permit for 25 stalls and 500 attendees.
Market organiser Kate Jones said about $250,000 was spent at the market, which did not include knock-on expenditure at local shops and restaurants.
“The inner west is known as Sydney’s vegan hub and it’s where we really wanted to be and that’s where a lot of our (stallholders) are based,” she said.
“Having a vegan market in the inner west just makes sense but it just wasn’t meant to be unfortunately.
“It became clear that in order for Addison Rd to get the right development application, they were going to have to outlay a huge cost including $4500 for a traffic management plan with no guarantee of approval.”
A lack of parking in the area meant the market was going to be detrimental to neighbours, she said.
Ms Jones said Inner West Council staff and Mayor Darcy Byrne were “super helpful” but she said a parking scheme for the area was needed as well as “systemic change to make it achievable for community groups to run large scale events”.
“They need to simplify the DA process and also I think locals need to get behind these events a bit more.
“It just feels like there are so many roadblocks in the way of holding community-focused creative events.”
She said the inner west is known for its weirdness, creativeness and progressiveness and that needed to be celebrated rather than discouraged.
“I think with live music venues closing and creative hubs being blocked, it’s that scenario of ‘have your cake and eat it too’ where people want the inner west to be weird but not when it inconveniences them.
“It’s not like the weirdness is leaving, we’re still here but we need things to do which is rapidly decreasing, it’s turning into this nanny state.”
Cr Byrne said it was a shame the inner west had lost the market to the “soulless” EQ, which “could be the home of any old mainstream market”.
“I have offered the highest levels of assistance to help them submit a DA and they haven’t done so,” Cr Byrne said.
He agreed the inner west was at risk of losing its creative edge.
He said a “reckless” decision by non-Labor councillors to “kill off” the Sydenham Creative Hub “combined with unnecessary red tape through the council bureaucracy is posing a real danger to our goal of making the inner west the independent arts and cultural capital of Australia”.
Greens, Liberal and independent councillors had been concerned the Sydenham hub would threaten existing industrial businesses
“The Marrickville creative hub has been through a ridiculously protracted process which started with Marrickville Council,” Cr Byrne said.
“If we aren’t careful, that really exciting project could also be lost through red tape and political inertia.”
The applicant behind the proposal, which would employ 460 creatives on Rich St, said they are looking at sites in North Parramatta after council delayed the project again.
Cr Byrne said the inner west could look forward to the EDGE festival, which will feature art installations, street art, light projects, music and live performances.
The first installation will be a Sacred Music Festival in Ashfield from September 6 to 9.
“The aim of EDGE is to make use of the huge number of existing arts and hospitality businesses rather than staging a boring, council-run arts program,” Cr Byrne said.
“It’s about boosting the thriving artistic ecosystem we already have in the inner west by building on things which are already commercially successful and making them stronger.”
Almost 3000 people have registered their interest on Facebook for the first market at the EQ where there will be about 100 stalls from 9am to 4pm this Sunday, August 19.