Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Council force closure of community stall outside Budgens, Crouch End
The Budgens Stalls4All Co-ordinator has this evening circulated the following text in an email.
Stall4All outside Thornton's Budgens in Crouch End has been shut down by a Haringey council officer last Thursday the 7th of June on the grounds that our stalls needed to be licensed. When enquiring how I could go on about getting a license I was told we couldn't apply for one as the space (Budgens' own private space) in question is not considered a designated trading area.
This is extremely upsetting and frustrating for the stall holders we have been supporting for a whole year at a time of economic uncertainty. Stall4All is a not for profit organisation which has been supporting local residents in going back to work by providing them with a space to showcase and sell their work. In addition, we have been supporting local charities and community events such as the Crouch End Festival where children built their versions of the supermarket and the stalls outside, displayed at the library. Funnily enough, we have recently had an enquire from a council department to hire one of the stalls to help promote their services. How ironic, to say the least! Well, we will have to decline their application.
A big slice of our stalls' income goes to Pennies for Plastic which has been helping several charities in the area. By stopping us trading, the council is stopping money going to these causes which is just very unfortunate (and wrong).
We have been using the stalls for a year and I don't understand why they have caused a problem now and with no chance to sort it at all, even though we immediately ceased trading when told to and were willing to pay for a license to trade in our own pavement. I feel that my hands are tied and that I am letting down a lot of locals. Is there any way out of this situation?
I have copied a few media contacts into this email. I can only hope someone will see how unfair the situation is and make it public.
Thank you for reading.
Tags for Forum Posts: budgens, crouch end
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Lucy Fielding on
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Hope you are back in business soon Poly. I have bought several lovely pieces of jewellry from you.
Bring back Poly!
x
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Hey Lucy thank you for your support. I wish I could put a face to your name. Next time when I'm on the stall let me know who you are so I can marry the two. Hopefully see you soon. x
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Hi Lucy. I am going to be out trading at Crouch for the first time since they shut it this - Sat 21st.
Ana the stall co-ordinator who has been tremendously supportive and hard working in this process had recently reduced the stall fees for July so that when added to the £21 licence fee a day the council have requested the outgoings for stall holders particualrly Friday to Sunday are only a bit more than it would normally be.
If you are around on Sat come say hello. x
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Ana sorry this happened on your call as I know you put so much effort and work into Stall4all. Thankyou for all your support. I'll ring in next day or two
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Permalink Reply by Chris Setz on
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We can sort this injustice out - there are more of us than them.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Councillor David Winskill (Crouch End) has asked us to republish the email he has sent to the Leader of the Council sand the appropriate cabinet member on this issue.
Dear Nilgun and Claire,
Please see below some correspondence from Budgens in Crouch end.
A notice has been served asking Budgens to stop their Stall4All from operating.
This stall has been operating successfully for many months and has been giving the opportunity to dozens of small scale entrepreneurs and charities to set out their wares and sell to shoppers in Crouch End. It is an ideal test bed to allow people to try out marketing and sales at low cost and little risk. The stalls are invariably well managed, tidy and leave no litter or mess. They are cited on Budgens' land and do not create any obstruction to pedestrians. They are popular with the public and, in their own right, are acting as a magnet to bring people to the Crouch End Town Centre
Haringey is positioning itself as a small business friendly borough: this action is baffling. The Budgens initiative is exactly the sort of thing that we should be going out of our way to encourage and not stifling with red tape.
I am sure that this has been an over zealous application of the rules and would be grateful if you could arrange for officers to immediately suspend the notice and take no further action. If the A-boards are causing an obstruction, I am sure that Mr Thornton would be delighted to meet with Kem and myself to see if a more appropriate position can be found.
Regards,
David
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Hugh would you please thank David Winskill for his support.
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Will do. I think Cllrs Matt Cooke (Lab, Bounds Green) and Karen Alexander (LD, Harringay) also weighed in.
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Good to know this; I am thankful to them also. Again thank you for your invaluable contribution.
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Thank you to Cllr. David Winskill for his support. A great community person!
Also thanks to Matt Cooke and Karen Alexander.Hope the stall reopens soon. It's the weekend and I need to buy more lovely handmade earrings from Polly Evangelou!
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Lucy its been great all the community support for stall4all.
I'm not booked in this Sat; I'm booked for Sat 23rd. Hopefully stall4all will reopen by then. I'll let you know as soon as I know when I'm there for definite. Thanks. See you soon
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