A CONTINENTAL street market will not be coming to a seaside resort in May following opposition from local businesses.

Wirral Council decided to approve only one market on the New Brighton promenade in August after concerns were raised by a community group representing independent businesses that some could close as a result. RREvent Solutions had applied for three markets to take place in 2024 with two in New Brighton and one in Liscard.

RREvents, which is based in Knowsley and one of the biggest market organisers in Europe, later withdrew the Liscard market plan saying it would not have enough time to organise it. However, it still asked the local authority to consider licences to operate a market on the first May bank holiday as well as a market operating from August 8 to 11.

The council refused the licence for May but agreed to allow the market in August to go ahead on certain conditions. This means “there must be no stall selling ready to eat fish and chips which would conflict with local speciality businesses” and “music must not be heard playing from market stalls.”

RREvents also “must check the provenance of products to be sold at the market” to see where they have come from.

Joanne Evans who put the application forward on behalf of the company said they were disappointed the May market wasn’t going ahead but were “hoping for a really successful event” in August. She said: “We have had a really good response already putting it out on our social media sites yesterday. We have got our five local stores already, face painters, soaps, and a cake lady as well. We are really excited but we are just in the planning stage now.”

She added: “It only seems fair but we are delighted we have got the August one. We have had it on the Dips and the amount of complaints that we got where people couldn’t attend the event. Our type of market is best on hard standing ground.”

She said she would be open to working with local businesses, adding: “I half understand why they are concerned because it’s a nice coastal town but at the end of the day, it’s the other local people who want us there.”

Cathy Roberts from the New Brighton Coastal Community had concerns the events would pull customers away from permanent businesses on the seafront during busy periods like bank holidays claiming similar events had seen a drop of up to 50% in trade last year.

She said the decision was “step in the right direction” and thanked councillors. She said: “We are very relieved because some businesses were at breaking point last year. That is why we thought we have got to do something. The only people who know what is happening are the people who have businesses in New Brighton.

“It’s a hard time for the high street and businesses in general but we all do the best we can.”

She added: “We are not against events. We are just asking them to find out what businesses are here and what impact might be. It’s simple. Speak to people and find out what the issues might be. What everyone wants is for any event to be a successful event. We are happy to help anybody and people can contact us anytime.”