The City of Hobart Council says it is progressing work to future-proof the city’s world-class Salamanca Market, with a fees rise proposed for stallholders.
Salamanca Market remains Tasmania’s most visited tourist attraction, regularly surging past the 20,000 attendance mark each Saturday.
Of those attending each market day, figures show 70% come from outside of Tasmania as the state recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, providing a huge economic benefit to the city and the state.
The Council has endorsed a recommendation for a 30-day consultation with all stallholders and the Salamanca Market Stallholders’ Association as part of a proposed new licence agreement to sustain it into the future.
“This is the start of a process rather than the end of one,” said Hobart Lord Mayor, Anna Reynolds.
“We’ve asked the staff to review the cost of the management, promotion and operation of the market and look for any savings.
“So we are listening to the stallholders concerns about whether we’re running the market as efficiently as we could and should be.
“That information will come back to councillors before we make a final decision on the licence agreement.”
This proposal would result in an average market site fee increase of $9.58 (excluding GST) per market day, with most stalls increasing by $8.76 (excluding GST) per market day for each year of the agreement. CPI increases will not be applied until mid 2024.
Depending on the location of the market stall, the biggest site fee increase will be $12.64 per day, with the smallest $6.77 (excluding GST).
Council says the site fees will be reinvested back into the market to support stallholders.
The consultation period with stallholders commences on 27 March and closes on 26 April 2023.
All submissions received by the City will be presented to elected members for consideration at the 22 May council meeting.
