A cycling campaign group and charity in Oxford has released a statement after the organiser of the Christmas Market for 14 years pulled out.

Nicole Rahimi withdrew her bid to organise Oxford’s Christmas Market after the county council insisted on keeping a cycle lane on Broad Street open.

Ms Rahimi accused the council of “prioritising cyclists over businesses” but the council emphasised that she always knew that going ahead with the market was conditional upon keeping this cycle lane open.

City council leader Susan Brown said the council has “already had a second bidder for this market, and their bid has made a commitment to give priority to locally based traders where possible”.

Cyclox, a cycling campaign group, released a statement two days ago which said it wanted to see a “thriving Christmas Market” and believed it was an “important part of the Christmas experience in Oxford”.

However, the group did say that it supported the decision to keep the cycle route open.

It said: “The market in Broad Street will be a whole new experience now that car parking has gone.

“Motor traffic volumes are so much less and the market spreads across the length of the street.

“We know that there will be a lot of people on foot walking in the cycle lane for the duration of the market, that this space must be seen as a shared space.”

The group acknowledged there would be “key points where people on foot and on bikes will cross each others’ paths and pedestrians of course must have priority”.

The cycling group said it looked forward to working with both the city and county council and the new Christmas market organiser to “help design space where everyone can co-exist safely”.

Marc Evans, Oxfordshire County Council’s spokesman, emphasised that it was important to maintain the east to west cycle route through Broad Street.

He also said that Ms Rahimi would have been aware that there would be no cycle movements within either of the two market areas where the stalls are.

There would be various informal crossing areas where people could move safely between the east and west public spaces.

https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/23683757.oxford-cycling-group-reacts-christmas-market-row/

On 27/07/2023 05:56 pm, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:

> A chavs' campaign group and charity in Oxford has released a statement after the organiser of the Christmas Market for 14 years pulled out.
> Nicole Rahimi withdrew her bid to organise Oxford’s Christmas Market after the county council insisted on keeping a chav-cycle lane on Broad Street open.
> Ms Rahimi accused the council of “prioritising chavs over businesses” but the council emphasised that she always knew that going ahead with the market was conditional upon keeping this chav-cycle lane open.
> City council leader Susan Brown said the council has “already had a second bidder for this market, and their bid has made a commitment to give priority to locally based traders where possible”.
> Chav-Cyclox, a chavs' campaign group, released a statement two days ago which said it wanted to see a “thriving Christmas Market” and believed it was an “important part of the Christmas experience in Oxford”.
> However, the group did say that it supported the decision to keep the chav-cycle route open.
> It said: “The market in Broad Street will be a whole new experience now that car parking has gone.
> “Motor traffic volumes are so much less and the market spreads across the length of the street.
> “We know that there will be a lot of people on foot walking in the chav lane for the duration of the market, that this space must be seen as a shared space.”
> The group acknowledged there would be “key points where people on foot and chavs on chav-bikes will cross each others’ paths and pedestrians of course must have priority”.
> The chavs' group said it looked forward to working with both the city and county council and the new Christmas market organiser to “help design space where everyone can co-exist safely”.
> Marc Evans, Oxfordshire County Council’s spokesman, emphasised that it was important to maintain the east to west chav-cycle route through Broad Street.
> He also said that Ms Rahimi would have been aware that there would be no chav-cycle movements within either of the two market areas where the stalls are.
> There would be various informal crossing areas where people could move safely between the east and west public spaces.
>
> https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/23683757.oxford-cycling-group-reacts-christmas-market-row/

FIFY.

QUOTE: However, the group did say that it supported the decision to keep the cycle route open. It said: “The market in Broad Street will be a whole new experience now that car parking has gone. ENDS

Just be thankful that it will not be destroyed by Brexit like dozens of European market will be.

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

> QUOTE: However, the group did say that it supported the decision to keep
> the cycle route open. It said: “The market in Broad Street will be a
> whole new experience now that car parking has gone. ENDS

LOL! That could mean several things!

> Just be thankful that it will not be destroyed by Brexit like dozens of
> European market will be.

How does that work, then?

--
Spike

QUOTE:
It said: “The market in Broad Street will be a whole new experience now that car parking has gone. “Motor traffic volumes are so much less and the market spreads across the length of the street. ENDS

And much cleaner air and lower collision rates as a result - win win.

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
> QUOTE:
> It said: “The market in Broad Street will be a whole new experience now
> that car parking has gone. “Motor traffic volumes are so much less and
> the market spreads across the length of the street. ENDS
>
> And much cleaner air and lower collision rates as a result - win win.

oops…

One can spread *across* a street or *along* its length.

‘Across’ its ‘length’ makes no sense.

Cyclox, eh? ‘We bicyclists want freedum, if only we could spell it’.

--
Spike

On Thursday, July 27, 2023 at 5:56:03 PM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
> A cycling campaign group and charity in Oxford has released a statement after the organiser of the Christmas Market for 14 years pulled out.

It could have ended permanently.
-----------------------------------------------
It was sad to see your report (page 2, The Yorkshire Post, October 6) that the costs of work and travel visas mean that the German Christmas Markets in Leeds will be cancelled forever.

Visa costs are not the whole story however. As a non-EU member the UK also requires the participants to go through the red tape of applying for and paying for ‘carnets’ for the temporary import of all the stands, vehicles and equipment associated with the market. On top of that, all meat products (Wurst, cured meats etc) imported would require a Food Health Certificate, commonly called a ‘veterinary certificate’, as a vet has to do the inspection.

All this red tape and expense because, having left the European Union, the UK now has ‘third country’ status.

In the opposite direction, British musical gigs, performers, dance groups and artists have to pass the same red tape, carnets and cost barriers if they wish to work in the EU. It is becoming nigh impossible for aspiring young British performers to get the exposure and experience they need to develop their careers.

Your report should have made it clear that the permanent loss of Leeds Christmas Markets is entirely due to Brexit.

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thursday, July 27, 2023 at 5:56:03 PM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
>> A cycling campaign group and charity in Oxford has released a statement
>> after the organiser of the Christmas Market for 14 years pulled out.
>
> It could have ended permanently.
> -----------------------------------------------
> It was sad to see your report (page 2, The Yorkshire Post, October 6)
> that the costs of work and travel visas mean that the German Christmas
> Markets in Leeds will be cancelled forever.
>
> Visa costs are not the whole story however. As a non-EU member the UK
> also requires the participants to go through the red tape of applying for
> and paying for ‘carnets’ for the temporary import of all the stands,
> vehicles and equipment associated with the market. On top of that, all
> meat products (Wurst, cured meats etc) imported would require a Food
> Health Certificate, commonly called a ‘veterinary certificate’, as a vet
> has to do the inspection.
>
> All this red tape and expense because, having left the European Union,
> the UK now has ‘third country’ status.
>
> In the opposite direction, British musical gigs, performers, dance groups
> and artists have to pass the same red tape, carnets and cost barriers if
> they wish to work in the EU. It is becoming nigh impossible for aspiring
> young British performers to get the exposure and experience they need to
> develop their careers.
>
> Your report should have made it clear that the permanent loss of Leeds
> Christmas Markets is entirely due to Brexit.
Leeds can, of course, always go to German Christmas markets…

--
Spike

QUOTE: Young Europeans could be allowed to work in Britain as baristas, au pairs and waiters in a move that has angered Brexiteers. Plans are under way for a youth mobility scheme that would allow young adults from the continent to work in the UK for two years. ENDS

Cue the sight of frying gammon in Brexit land.

WHY DON'T *THEY* DO THOSE JOBS THEN?
DOG IN A MANGER SYNDROME.
TWATS.

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
> QUOTE: Young Europeans could be allowed to work in Britain as baristas,
> au pairs and waiters in a move that has angered Brexiteers. Plans are
> under way for a youth mobility scheme that would allow young adults from
> the continent to work in the UK for two years. ENDS
>
> Cue the sight of frying gammon in Brexit land.
>
> WHY DON'T *THEY* DO THOSE JOBS THEN?
> DOG IN A MANGER SYNDROME.
> TWATS.

WHY DON’T YOU?

--
Spike

The number of businesses taking part in the UK’s Christmas markets has slumped by more than a fifth since Brexit, it has emerged – with some of Britain’s biggest cities hit hardest by the decline.

There will be 21 per cent fewer traders at the first post-Covid markets this year, compared with pre-Brexit numbers, local authority figures shared with The Independent show.

UK capitals saw some of the steepest downturns, with Edinburgh’s flagship Christmas market expected to see around half as many traders this year as before the UK left the EU.

London’s West End reported the largest decline of all those surveyed, collapsing from 247 businesses trading in 2019 to just 119 this year – a decline of 51 per cent.

The internationalist campaign group Best for Britain – which obtained figures from more than 50 councils following freedom of information requests – said it was clear that post-Brexit red tape was a major “deterrent” to seasonal traders coming from EU countries.

Leeds was forced to scrap its “Christkindelmarkt” this year, with organisers citing post-Brexit “costs and complications” affecting traders from Germany as a major factor in the cancellation.

While other factors, including increased energy costs and roadworks, are having an impact, leading market organisers say the industry has been hit hard by post-Brexit bureaucracy. Market Place Europe – which operates Christmas markets around the UK – said post-Brexit “restrictions and requirements” had led many EU traders to pull out.

“Brexit appears to have had a significant impact on the number of EU traders attending the Christmas markets in the UK,” managing director Allan Hartwell told The Independent. “From what I am hearing from other Christmas market operators, there are far fewer EU traders in attendance,” he added. “Leeds market has been cancelled this year, and Southampton almost had a similar fate, as many of the core traders didn’t travel from Germany.”

Mr Hartwell noted that because of arrangements set out in the Northern Ireland protocol, traders from the EU can more easily operate in Belfast than in cities in mainland Britain. Belfast’s Christmas market bucked the wider trend by growing by 15 per cent compared with 2019.

Naomi Smith, chief executive of Best for Britain – which campaigns for closer ties with the EU – said it was “clear that Christmas markets across the country are also feeling the fallout from this panto government’s turkey of a Brexit deal”.

She added: “Brexit red tape has made doing business more expensive and is an effective deterrent to European traders setting up shop in UK city centres. The government must work to rebuild a closer economic partnership with our closest neighbours or we can expect more of the same next year.”

Christmas markets contributed up to £500m in direct spending across England and Wales in 2017, according to the Local Government Association.