Forlongs may drop court case against Frankton Markets
Terry Forlong may soon be withdrawing his court case against the Frankton Markets.
- Terry Forlong may be set to drop his court case against the Hamilton City Council regarding the Frankton Markets.
Forlong will be meeting with the market organiser Vinod Bhikha and Frankton Business Association chairman Jim Ashton on Monday to reach an agreement on changes to the market, he said on Friday.
Forlongs applied to the Environment Court for the markets to close, concerned over theft and loss of business at the Frankton store.
“On Monday we are jointly starting on forming a proposal to put to the Hamilton City Council,” Forlong said.
“If this goes to plan Forlongs will be withdrawing the court case.”
Bhikha said: “The idea behind the meeting is to collaborate and put a joint proposal in so that it might be actioned a bit quicker.
“If we can work through this amicably then that’s always a good result. I’ve found Terry always good to interact with on a one to one basis.”
He says they are working towards a two or three week time frame.
“I’ve had huge support over the last few weeks,” Bhikha said, adding that one man had even flown over from Perth to attend what they thought would be the final market last Saturday.
The development follows an offer from former All Black Graham Whiting for the markets to use some of the space in his Frankton Hotel. He has also offered up to $15,000 to refurbish the space, according to Cr Angela O’Leary.
O’Leary, who has been fighting for the continuation of the markets, said: she fully supported Terry Forlong on the fresh initiative. “Sometimes when we’re faced with these great challenges, great opportunities present themselves. That’s certainly what seems to have happened.”
O’Leary hopes this will lead to an opportunity for more community involvement.
“I’d like to sit down with Terry and Vinod and talk about getting the community involved in that project,” she said.
“I have ideas of having some artistic students in there putting up murals, really put that signature on the wall and the space, which I think would be quite special.”
O’Leary said she hopes the bad blood is in the past and that they will be able to move forward.
“It’s such a great outcome,” she said.
The Frankton Markets have been running every Saturday for 27 years.
