- In short: Traders at the Queen Victoria Market say they feel “blindsided” by management’s decision to charge for utilities, storage and waste, and increase licence fees
- What’s next: The new charges will come in on January 1, 2025, and licence fees will go up in November
Rosa Ansaldo has been running a fruit and vegetable stall at Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market for 35 years, but an existential threat is looming over traders like her.
Management told stallholders last week they would have to pay utility, storage and waste disposal fees from 2025, while their licence fees would increase by 4 per cent from November.
“We’re so uncertain about our future, that we have to doubt whether they actually want us there,” Ms Ansaldo said.
“We don’t see a future at all.”
Ms Ansaldo runs the stall with her husband, and their children have also started working there. Her father in-law used to run the place, so it has generational value to their family.
She said her business would have no choice but to put up the costs of their produce under the changes, estimating her fees would rise by about $800 a month.
Market says it must address ‘future financial sustainability’
In an email sent to traders, Queen Victoria Market CEO Matt Elliott said the market’s costs for 2023-24 were forecast to increase by 18 per cent on last year.
“For the future financial sustainability of the market, changes are necessary to cover these increasing costs and provide a fair, equitable and consistent approach to how costs are allocated to traders,” he said.
“A range of options have been considered to keep trader costs as low as possible, while addressing the market’s financial sustainability.”
Queen Victoria Market is undergoing a $268 million redevelopment, which will deliver upgraded facilities and a new food hall.
The City of Melbourne also plans to build hundreds of apartments, a student accommodation building and a 28-storey office and retail tower that overlook the market. The plan has been criticised by traders for disrupting their businesses and diminishing the site’s heritage value.
Ms Ansaldo said the redevelopment meant she had lost access to her storage space, and would soon lose their parking.
“We’ve had many years of disruption, now we’re losing our warehouse, we don’t know where our vehicles are going to be parked in this renewal,” she said.
She worries about her stall’s ability to survive with the new costs and the changes the renewal will bring.
“The city is very, very quiet, we are not getting people there,” she said.
“They’re not doing anything to bring people, they’re not doing anything to fill the market up.”
Market keeps prices low when supermarkets don’t
Mary-Lou Howie, president of Friends of Queen Victoria Market, described the move as a “blindside”.
“It’s a real breach of trust,” she said.
“Management had promised them there would be no increase in charges during the market renewal.”
A spokesperson for Queen Victoria Market management said traders were told there would be no increases while they were relocated to temporary locations during the renewal.
Ms Howie said the market was vital for the food security of Melbourne.
“Because you’ve got myriad traders competing side-by-side, prices are kept low, unlike the supermarket,” she said.
“The market is essential in this inflationary time.”
Under the plan sent out by management, stallholders would pay up to $3,600 per year for electricity.
Ms Howie said she did not understand why electricity costs were being introduced, as the market had solar panels on the roof.
The new yearly waste disposal costs for fruit and vegetable stalls will vary from $1,915 for small businesses, to $3,830 for large ones.
She said some traders were planning to stop selling vegetables, which generate a lot of waste, and concentrate on fruit instead.
“This reduces the diversity in the market, and the market is renowned for diversity,” she said.
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