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Speaker: Ian Rawes About: Brockley Market Campaign Website: http://www.brockleymarket.netThe local area (Brockley) has little in the way of shops for foodstuffs: processed food, drinks, ciggies (Costcutter expensive, no fresh produce, stuff goes off) Brockley is quite a large area with 3,500 households Shops quite poor quality. 40 years ago, there used to baker, greengrocer, fishmongers on the local high street. Now people have to travel a mile or more to Lewisham, Peckham, etc) to do a bulk of shopping. Can’t beat markets on price, also scope for organic, farmers market. Campaign started in March [2005] to go public, set up by me, now under the Brockley Cross Action Group umbrella. Campaign acts as a pressure group to lobby Lewisham Borough Council (LBC). LBC run all the markets, monopoly, but at the same time LBC have a good record for running street markets Councils have no clue [about the value of markets], markets to them are a good cash cow (money coming in, no need for expensive infrastructure). LBC runs a zero balance on its Profit and Loss, manages them tightly, those who haven’t done so, then market traders have abused the system (bribes, backhanders), creating mini-empires. LBC acted decisively by sacking inspectors , stopping extortion rackets, traders think well of LBC. Campaign
has 4 main areas: Website (fairly important part): Fairly lively, populist feel. Worked as a printer and typesetter, doing book design, local newspapers; has had an influence on my web design Keep the basic mechanics simple (no flashing graphics). Latitude in display of colour, layout. In most Newsagent, one sees a human face on the front of most magazines, draws peoples interest. [The website is...]not just for professionals, assume that anybody living in Brockley will look at the website, therefore have made it accessible, so anyone can get something out of it. People only look at a homepage for a couple of seconds, grab their attention (within seconds); on this website I have used subheadings to highlight our online survey (... have done Doorstep surveys too: we go back and collect them), news, what people are thinking about the idea (against, for the market). 4,000 unique visits, people look at 5 pages on average Needs section: why Brockley needs a market. Use pop-up windows to give people a little more information. Don’t like supermarkets, not polemical, have a go at them in terms of price (fruit and veg challenge: Lewisham v Sainsbury’s: Sainsbury 60% more expensive). Action page: get in touch, get involved. Survey: keep relatively short, boring otherwise. Paper form shorter, 40% response rate (local issue of interest). Enter details in form: submit: results are compiled into an email; sent to special email address, Use "Forms-to-go" (freeware). Details for how to get in touch with the local councillors; objectors have used it too, which is the price of democracy. PHP: simple comment form; gets filtered, stuff gets put up on the website, including objections; try to highlight complaints, not hide them. Dialogue: we answer complaints, should take them seriously, cannot infer underlying motives, e.g. you’re too lazy to walk to your parked car further away. Used Dream weaver, don’t need the latest version. Must plan at the beginning from the outset. Encounter objections, internet seems to be a safe place, this is an illusion. Website helpful; avoid a 2 -tier audience, pandering to internet use. Make website clear, up-to-date. Brockley mixed area: 50% working class, 50% middle class. Organic and farmers markets are not cheap, need to take into account the makeup of Brockley. Some people might be interested in eco-side, but don’t have purchasing power. Those not interested in the issues, can see advantages the pure economic, but the website wont preach. Walking distance markets, most people walk to them, don’t drive. Some markets are doing well against big supermarkets (but unhelpful councils (e.g. Westminster) don't help). Some of the eggs, veg quite affordable at farmers market, but some really expensive Survey: what do people think, but also to get people involved. North Cross Road (Dulwich) market: early 90's dying, now a success even with competition. Community lacklustre then a street market is what it needs. |
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