Ilkeston - A "Blue" Christmas
w/e 14 December 2008
All this week's pictures were taken with a Kodak DX6490

It is not often that I feel the need to resort to political comment on these pages but there are times when it is right to comment on the situation when it affects the future of the town and this is one of those times. All of the images on this page come from the weekend of December 6th/7th 2008. In the week following Conservative Party leader with aspirations to be the next Prime Minister made a speech criticising Gordon Brown and the government for their handling on the economic situation that is having a major impact worldwide. Whilst his speech was full of rhetoric and condemnation, little was reported on his alternative proposals so perhaps we can glean more of his party's policies by seeing how his fellow members act at grass roots level.

Protest

On Saturday Councillor Chris Corbert, leader of the Conservative controlled Erewash Borough Council, remained firmly ensconced in the Town Hall opening his door only for a television interview whilst market traders and their supporters gathered outside to stage a protest about the Council's decision requiring the traders to buy and erect their own stalls from the start of the 2009. Despite the message shining down from above the greetings were neither seasonal nor full of goodwill.
Poster

All suggestions and alternative proposals by the market traders have been shunned by the Council and many fear that the policy of self-erection will lead to the demise and even the death of the market as we know it.
Wanted

Many of the stalls on Saturday were displaying "Wanted" posters bearing the photos and names of those Conservative Councillors deemed responsible for "Murdering Ilkeston Market". One elderly gentleman in his seventies and who has traded in the town for over forty years will be expected not only to buy a new stall and erect it himself but also to purchase a larger vehicle in which to transport it. In fact many of the stall holders who regularly trade here are in the fifty plus age group and are in a similar situation with regards to transport. Surely the Council's decision means this is not a viable proposition for many of them.
Empty

Anyone who thinks the market traders are over reacting to the Council's policy only has to look around the market to see that several stalls are already empty where the traders have voted with their feet and left already. This will only get worse come the new year as more traders have stated their intention to leave. One trader who has decided to stay has already purchased a new smaller stall at a cost of about £400 and despite the Council offering a reduction of £2 per week for a site on the market, it will take him about four years to recoup this outlay.
Engine

On Sunday the stalls had been replaced by an old fire engine as another gathering took place on the Market Place. Santa had come to town and had forsaken his normal transport of reindeer-pulled sleigh for this alternative vehicle.
Santa

He was greeted by a number of children all of whom seemed delighted to see him especially as he was happy to pose for photographs. But what had Santa to do with the demise of the market? Well his visit was part of the Ilkeston Co-Op's efforts to drum up trade but if all the requests to Santa are met with the same response as the petitions and letters from concerned residents to the Council, then there will be a lot of empty stockings come Christmas morning.
Helpers

Santa was accompanied by a number of helpers cunningly disguised as a Christmas tree, brightly wrapped parcels and even the fairy from the top of the tree. Santa eventually made his way into the store but whether or not his arrival had the desired effect of increasing customers only time will tell.
Band

Perhaps the policy of the local Council gives us an inkling into David Cameron's ideas on how to "help" the economy but many of the shopkeepers and market traders in Ilkeston will be concerned about the expected demise of the market. On Sunday the band outside the Co-Op played a variety of jolly seasonal tunes but both shopkeepers and market traders may well be looking forward to singing to a different tune in the new year unless common sense is seen to prevail and the unpopular decision is reversed or another solution adopted. Despite the Council's assertion that "There are absolutely no plans to close the market" their actions (or rather inaction) do not correspond with their words.

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