GRAYSHOTT’S monthly market has been suspended for at least a year due to a lack of parking spaces in the village.

The decision to stop holding the monthly market was made by the Square Market Group chairman, Tim Wickes at a meeting, held on Tuesday evening.

He felt it was time for a break after concerns were raised by local shopkeepers.

He also announced the market would have been reduced to seven events per year from nine, as well as the cancellation of the popular Hoppa Bus, which provided transport for shoppers from Liphook, Bramshott Place Village and Bramshott, and cost £2,000 per year to run.

During a heated two-hour meeting, chaired by Mani Rai, chairman of BIG (Buy in Grayshott) and Mr Wickes, local traders spoke about the problems they face on market days on the third Saturday of the month from March to November.

Gerard Harris, who owns the Cabbage Patch greengrocers in The Square, together with postmistress Michelle Reidy and Fiona Bayly, of Pins and Needles, all reported a loss of sales between 30 and 50 per cent.

This was supported by a letter from Caroline and Kevin Kaighin, who own the butcher shop, and who raised concerns as traders as well as employees.

Reasons given for the dramatic drop in takings on market day, a prime shopping day, were the lack of parking spaces in Grayshott, with many more shoppers coming into the village on market day.

The market has been held for the last two years and at its peak attracted 1,200 visitors, which fell to an average of around 500-700.

It was meant to benefit village shops by increasing the footfall of visitors.

Shopkeepers stressed they are not against the market being held, but would like to see some sort of compromise to help them retain their sales on the busiest day of the week.

Grayshott Pottery’s Phil Bates (right) told The Herald: “The concept and idea of the market was to support traders and bring some additional community life into the village.

“What is not clear, is what effect the market and its branding and regular advertising had on retailers in the village outside the nine market days each year. which promoted Grayshott as a destination to visit and shop in other weeks as well.

“The question is have those retailers, who say their turnover is down on a market day, seen an annual increase in turnover since the market started and could they relate the reason for this to the publicity of the markets.

He added: “The downside of not having the market is the loss of a community feel in the village when they are held.”

Before making a final decision, options were discussed by the many traders and shoppers attending the meeting.

Some felt the market should be held on another day, possiby on Sundays or Wednesdays or that it should be held only every two months. Another idea was to move it to the green.

Another popular suggestions was to hold only four markets marking spring, summer, autumn and Christmas.

Moray Thomas, the vicar of St Luke’s who heads the Market Square Group, offered to hold the market in the church grounds to take the pressure off The Square and its residents, and which would also provide an indoor venue in bad weather.

But he did point out that under the present arrangements it would be impossible to hold the market anywhere on a Sunday, as most volunteers would not be able to offer their help.

In addition, most market stallholders attend farmers’ markets elsewhere on Sundays, and would not be able to attend.

Holding the market at Applegarth Farm was rejected, as it would not bring any shoppers into the village or create a community event. Arranging a park-and-ride facility there was also a suggestion made, but previous attempts to help alleviate parking congestion in a similar way had failed.

Peter Harrison who has been in the village for 45 years called the market a vibrant asset due to the hard work of the group.

But he stressed what made the village so successful were the 50 shops, the 150 businesses and the dozen community groups, who provide a service to everyone and who needed to remain in place.

Cabbage patch owner Mr Harris, who had been leading the debate for the shop owners throughout the meeting, told The Herald: “It is sad, the decision was made to scrap the market all together and we traders are not against the market as such – but it did displace our customers.

“I would not call it a victory, but I am happy with the solution, since none of the compromises on offer were viable.

“The one good thing about the meeting was that everyone addressed the parking problems in Grayshott – which is what we need to focus on. If parking was not an issue, the market would not be an issue.”

Mrs Reidy added: “It is a shame that no compromise could be reached.

“I am not against the market and would have preferred to have four annual market days, one for each season, which would have brought more customers to the village. I also feel the Hoppa Bus should continue to be run throughout the year now Headley Down has lost its post office, and I am sure financing can be discussed with parish councils and some solution reached.”