Farmers’ show of strength at 752-year-old market
Campaigning farmers will be expressing their frustration at the threatened closure of Hailsham livestock market in East Sussex.
They will stage a peaceful protest during the 163rd Hailsham fatstock show of prime cattle, sheep and pigs on December 8, 2004 (09.00/12.30hrs).
The past six weeks has seen a concerted lobbying campaign by NFU members, Hailsham residents and the Hailsham Market Action Group. More than 300 objections to the plan for an Aldi superstore on the market site have been lodged with Wealden District Council. Campaigners have also enlisted the support of politicians in their battle to save the historic market.
Hailsham MP Charles Hendry is expected to attend the fatstock show/sale on December 8, to address placard-waving farmers from 09.30hrs (photocall). He is coordinating a joint approach with fellow Sussex MPs to the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, to ensure that both the Victorian Act and the ancient charter protecting the 752-year-old market are upheld. Lewes MP Norman Baker has raised his concerns with Lord Goldsmith already. Bexhill & Battle MP Greg Barker is also supportive.
NFU SE Food and Farming Adviser James Mulleneux said: “Livestock markets are the lifeblood of the livestock industry. We have lost far too many markets and small abattoirs in the South East over the past 15 years or so. We won’t let Hailsham close without a fight. If farmers are to continue to run cattle and sheep in the High Weald, on the South Downs and the Pevensey Levels, then they need infrastructure to survive.”
Now East Sussex County Council is taking an interest in the future of Hailsham market, with a meeting about the market’s destiny set for December 16 at County Hall in Lewes.
Hailsham Market Action Group chairman Phil Hook, an NFU member, said: “Hailsham livestock market is absolutely vital not just for farmers in Sussex but for others from farther afield. We successfully fought off closure in November 1996 and we’re not prepared to see the market go now. The main priority for us is to keep the market open and then if relocation to a new site becomes necessary, we want time to plan and co-ordinate a logical move.”
East Sussex NFU chairman John Padfield, of Mark Cross, near Crowborough, said: “Hailsham is a central trading post for ordinary farmers from the High Weald, the South Downs and the Pevensey Levels. If Hailsham livestock market were to close then farmers would be forced to take their animals on much longer, stressful journeys to markets at Ashford, Thame and Salisbury. A lot of animals sold at Hailsham are traded locally and fattened within the area – if we lost the market, we’d lose a vital cog in the industry.”
The fatstock show takes place between 09.00 and 11.00hrs, followed by judging and then a sale of the animals from 12.00.
