Farmers Market struggling to capture the imagination

Welshpool Town Council will not be giving up yet on its mission to bring a Farmers Market to the town, but it is facing growing resistance amongst councillors.

Following the latest update from Event’s Co-ordinator Kimberly Wright at the Events & Planning Committee meeting, where she said she was “struggling to get much of a response”, Cllr Morag Bailey was quick to cast doubt on the project as a whole.

“We seem to be putting a lot of effort into something that there doesn’t seem to be a demand for,” said Cllr Bailey.

“You need the providers to be the ones who are calling for it. It is taking a lot of time to try and research it where we are almost begging people to come, which shouldn’t be the case.

“It could be that there are a few in the area so they have enough to go to already?”

But the Town Mayor, Cllr Phil Owen, led calls for the local authority to continue its research and said he would approach farmers that he knew direct that already participate in other markets.

“It is difficult to drum up support for new ventures and there is often apathy, but if you do provide something and what you provide is good then people will go for it. I think it is worth pursuing,” said Cllr Owen.

Councillors agreed to continue, and Cllr Owen said he will feed back at the next meeting to see whether his avenue proves fruitful.