Gold Coast Art and Craft Market to shutdown after 40 years of operating out of Burleigh Heads
After more than 40 years, an iconic Gold Coast market will host its last event this weekend, leaving more than 200 small business stallholders homeless.
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After more than 40 years, an iconic Gold Coast market will host its last event this weekend, leaving more than 200 small business stallholders homeless.
Stallholders have started a petition to save the Gold Coast Art and Craft Market, which will say goodbye at Burleigh Heads this Sunday after not renewing its council permit due to changes which it said meant the business was ‘no longer viable’.
Managing director Damon Robbins said the markets, held on the first and third Sundays of every month at Kurrawa Park in Broadbeach, second Sundays at Coolangatta and last Sundays at Burleigh, could no longer operate under council conditions.
Mr Robbins said the new permit removed Burleigh Heads as a location altogether, and moved the Broadbeach location from Kurrawa to Pratten Park.
He said he had asked for an additional weekend to be allocated to Coolangatta, and additional support from Gold Coast City Council for the move within Broadbeach, but those requests had gone unanswered and the permit did not include those stipulations.
As a result, he did not reapply and his permit will expire on Monday.
Mr Robbins said he was hoping to work with council to amend the current conditions of the permit, but with no concrete plans he had to prepare for the end of the business.
A city hall spokesperson said the council recently undertook a public application process for market permits for Coolangatta, Broadbeach and Paradise Point as the current permits were due to expire and that no applications were received.
“The City deferred the Burleigh markets application process until next year due to conflicting construction works at the site,” the spokesperson said.
“Also, due to the heavy event schedule for Kurrawa Park the decision was made that any future permits issued for this use in Broadbeach would be for Pratten Park where the markets have previously been relocated when there is a scheduling conflict.
“With no applications received the City is happy to meet with and work with stall holders and the leaseholder to explore opportunities.”
Mr Robbins said he feared the Burleigh markets would never come back and had become a victim of the light rail the Oceanway path project.
“It would be my opinion that potentially the markets have fallen foul of the Stage 3 light rail extension and the Oceanway path from Burleigh to North Burleigh,” he said.
“Even once that construction is completed, there would likely need to be a safety audit conducted before the markets could be reinstated, due to being so close to the light rail route. I’m afraid that would be very difficult to pass.”
Mr Robbins said he was extremely disappointed that a compromise or solution had not already been reached for the other locations.
He said while area councillors had always been supportive, he felt the markets, worth approximately $200,000 to the city every week, were not being prioritised.
“This has been incredibly difficult. Personally, I’ve been at the Burleigh markets for 31 years and my family has been associated with these markets for 40 years, so I feel a personal responsibility for the legacy of the business and the family, but also the community of Gold Coast stallholders,” he said.
“I do believe there is goodwill on all sides and that we could reach a solution but it’s just been frustrating.
“I submitted a draft report to the council when they were doing the permit review with recommendations about what we would need moving forward to remain viable, but unfortunately I never received a response.
“It will be a huge loss if this is the end, not just for us and the stallholders but the city as a whole.
“We provide a huge economic and cultural benefit to the Coast but I don’t think that’s always been appreciated. At a minimum, each weekly market is worth at least $200,000 to the city.
“It’s not just the 200 small and micro businesses that set up at our markets, but the suppliers who work with them, the small businesses nearby who benefit from the increased number of customers wandering over for a coffee or a shop, it’s of huge value.
“The sad thing is that the markets are ending not because they are unsuccessful, but because there is nowhere viable to put them.”
However, Division 14 Councillor Gail O’Neill, who is currently away, said she spoke to Mr Robbins last week before she left and was arranging a meeting for next week between council officers, other area councillors and Mr Robbins.
“I have been a big supporter of the markets being in Coolangatta and I hope we can come up with a solution that sees them continue, but I cannot speak for other divisions,” said Ms O’Neill.
Stallholder Natasha Leventhal, who runs skincare and pet care businesses Purely Yours, said she was shocked when she heard news of the market closure just last week.
Mr Robbins said the late notice was due to the fact that he was hoping a solution would be found and he did not want to panic stallholders or have a new market-holder apply for the permit who was not experienced.
Ms Leventhal said while she understood the pressures faced by Mr Robbins, she was most concerned with the survival of other small businesses.
“I understand why he didn’t reapply for the permit – how can you keep going with essentially one weekend at Coolangatta?
“The Pratten Park location has been a tough location for stallholders, we lose something like 80 per cent of our business there. It could work but not without a lot of support.
“I’ve been doing this market for 10 years and it’s been fabulous. It’s an actual icon of the Coast, a real tourist attraction, a free community event and something families love.
“The fact that no one even applied for this permit I think is proof that what was offered was a dud.”
Fellow stallholder Tony Horrigan from Epic Coffee said businesses were left in a precarious position, and little confidence there would be a quick resolution, if any.
Mr Horrigan said the hundreds of stallholders were trying to organise together to join negotiations.
“It’s tough being a small business in a situation like this … there are no redundancies, no Fair Work submissions, no control over the situation,” he said.
“We’re hoping the markets can continue with the same owners but how long will that take? We can’t afford to take a three-month unpaid holiday.
“We’re trying to get organised so we can make sure that if a new permit-holder comes in that we are grandfathered into the next markets.”
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