LB Hounslow receives flood of emails in support of FoodSt Market

Image above: FoodSt Market at Christmas

Over 90 emails in support of market sent to Hounslow licensing panel

LB Hounslow has received more than 90 emails voicing support for the extension of a licence for the Food Street Market in Chiswick. Scheduled to convene on 17 January, the Licensing Panel will deliberate on whether the monthly outdoor street food markets should continue on the fourth Sunday of the month in Chiswick High Rd, following a three-month trial period.

Initially limited to 20 stalls at the western end of the car park, the market has so far seen only 15 stalls each month. The proposed extension could expand the market to accommodate up to 62 stalls, stretching down the High Road towards Metro Bank, potentially quadrupling its current size.

Support for the market primarily stems from individuals who have enjoyed attending the events, citing its ‘significant benefit’ to the High Road. Notably, some local businesses have reported a boost in trade on market days, with one cafe owner claiming a marked increase in foot traffic on market days.

Nevertheless, approximately 20 objections have been raised against the new application. Among the objections, William Hogarth Trust expressed concerns about potential damage to the nearby statue of Hogarth from cooking fats. The Dukes Meadows Trust sought clarity to prevent conflicts with their existing weekly food market on Sundays.

A local residents’ association and several businesses have expressed concerns about the market’s impact on the High Road, litter accumulation, parking issues, and potential negative effects on brick-and-mortar establishments.

Images above: FoodSt Market; photograph Jennifer Griffiths

“Chiswick is not a market town”

Chiswick Gunnersbury ward councillor Joanna Biddolph, who was intensely critical of the initial street food market proposal, provides eight pages of representations to the Panel. Her representations have their own appendix on the agenda page for the licensing panel meeting.

The Chiswick Gunnersbury councillor said permitting an expansion of the FoodSt market would be “catastrophic” and “devastating”. Bricks and mortar businesses on the High Road, she says, have already seen a drop in business, but she says objectors fear boycotts and reprisals on social media if they object to the application.

Despite the presence of the flower, cheese and vintage/antiques markets, the pavements of Chiswick are no longer “thronging with people” as before the pandemic, Cllr Biddolph says. She claims  local residents are forced to leave Chiswick to shop elsewhere. Chiswick is “not a market town” and attempts to make it so have “upset residents”.

Parking also features heavily in Cllr Biddolph’s representations:

“Traders at all the markets come from outside Chiswick in their vans and park in parking spaces where shoppers would otherwise be able to park. The discrimination against people who live here is extraordinary.”

Objections from the sublime to the ridiculous

One of the objections to the market is religious:

“Sunday is a Christian Church Day … A bigger market will stop attendance at church … the religious needs [of] Catholic worshippers need to be taken into account”, to which (Catholic) Chiswick councillor Jack Emsley responded that on the contrary, it would just make him go to church earlier so he could get out in time for a tasty breakfast.

Towards the end of her representations, Cllr Biddolph attacks the competency of the market’s founder, entrepreneur Richard Johnson, for “borrowing a knife from a trader with which to cut down notices”. While many would see this as a perfectly ordinary thing for colleagues to do, she draws the conculsion from her close observation of his actions, that it demonstrates a lack of foresight, writing:

“While he held this responsibly (close to his body, shielding it with his hand) when standing still, it showed that he did not plan ahead for what he would need to manage the area.”

Her comment has been pilloried on social media, as ludicrous and ‘bizarre’, undermining her case.

Image above: FoodSt Market by Andrea Carnevali

Survey shows overwhelming support for market by attendees 

Despite objections, a comprehensive survey commissioned by Mr Johnson, carried out by freelance market researcher Susie Mullen, who is a member of the Market Research Society, tracked the views of the market’s attendees in October and November. The respondents had an overwhelmingly positive view and there wasn’t a single negative overall response out of the 151 people who completed the seven-question survey.

The survey revealed more information of the demographics of people attending the market showing the average age was 41, with 56% of respondents female and 68% from outside the W4 postcode area.

39% of people from beyond Chiswick’s borders drove to the market; 35% said they walked and 20% used public transport.

89% of attendees from Chiswick walked and 4% of all people attending came by bike.

91% of respondents said they were likely to visit a shop while in Chiswick in November compared to 58% in October. This may be a result of the weather or people already having started their Christmas shopping.

The licence, if granted at the meeting later this month, would run for a period of six months. It could then be renewed on reapplication through officers’ delegated authority unless there were further objections received, in which case the application would resubmitted to members of the licensing panel for determination.