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For a number of years Shareshill, Staffordshire has suffered
greatly from the impact of so-called "car boot sales" on every
Sunday and bank holiday from Easter till nearly Christmas. I’m
sure many more communities are blighted in the same way. We are
not talking about the sort of event that a school or playgroup
might hold to raise funds. These are unlicensed, unregulated
markets with many traders who do this for a living, with or
without the knowledge of Inland Revenue. Whilst many sellers are
honest and legitimate there are also the characters selling
counterfeit goods, pirated DVDs and CDs, and property stolen in
burglaries and break-ins around the region. These events destroy
the quiet rural nature of our village.
When these markets lay siege to our village the main trunk road
and country lanes are blocked by queues of traffic. The worst
of "Sunday drivers" add to the chaos by pulling out into oncoming
traffic causing accidents and many near-misses. Our grass verges
get rutted and turned into mud by the "clever" drivers who don't
think they can manage to drive onto the allotted field.
These events are supposed to be limited to just 14 per year per.
To get around this they just move from field to field to ensure
that boot sale misery lasts for all but the winter months. These
so-called "boot sales" need to be regulated to protect both the
consumers who trudge around them and the rural community which
suffers as a result.
A petition has been set up on the Downing Street website for to
sign. It proposes that 'car boot operations'or anything similar
are all licensed from the 'first' one by the Local Planning
Authority and that no further 'licence' be granted to any Operator
within 10 days and 7 mile radius (unless Ancient Market Rights are
held etc) within any Council Fiscal Year. However the proposal
will allow genuine charity 'Car Boot Sales' within properties
described as 'Public or Civil Buildings'.
You can either go to the petition directly at:
and a link to the petition.
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