Why stop plant stall trading?

Reading in the national press that garden centres were open again and being almost sold out of their bedding-out plants etc, I was delighted to hear that our ‘open-air garden centre’ plant stall in Horsham market was back on Saturday, May 16, operating safely near the bandstand according to carefully planned instructions from the council.

But I was dismayed to learn that the stall wasn’t allowed to be there on Saturday 23!

Why? Because someone had complained that selling flowers was not a necessary function!Just as the country begins to see the seeds of recovery, our council heeded this complainant!

By the time the ruling was made, the significant financial outlay for the stall’s plants had been made. And now lost.

I don’t think I am alone in considering that whomsoever on our council prevented this stall from trading on the 23rd made a judgemental error in reversing their carefully considered ruling for the 16th, and in not rebutting the complaint.

We are in strange times, with strange uncertainties and inconsistencies - garden centres open but a flower stall forbidden to trade.

I DO hope this situation is rectified by next Saturday’s market day!

Let’s encourage efforts to get back to normal.

I am living in hope.

A Horsham District Council spokesperson commented: “With respect to the selling of plants and flowers as part of Horsham Markets on 16 May, the Council was approached by West Sussex County Council Trading standards and instructed that under the Trading Standards legislation in place at that time, the selling of plants and flowers was not allowed at an outdoor market. We were subsequently asked to remove both the plant and flower stalls going forward.

“Both the Council and its market operators hope to restore a broader selection of market stalls as soon as trading legislation and government guidance regarding the easing of restrictions allows.”

ANITA BUTTER WORTH

Cedar Close, Horsham