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WITH the proposal of a multinational supermarket planned to be placed next to the Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets, stallholders are concerned it will be detrimental to their economic viability.

The owners of 11 Nyrang Street have partnered with supermarket chain Aldi to investigate the possibility of establishing the supermarket next to the markets, and one of the markets’ owners, Barbara Irvine, cannot see any advantage to having it there.

“I’m mainly concerned for the tenants. They don’t need any financial impact applied to them. They already work long hours. It would be detrimental to their wellbeing,” she says.

It will require a change to the zoning requirements to build an Aldi store in Fyshwick and until March 25 community feedback is being sought on the proposal before any formal submission to the planning authorities.

Located in the Fyshwick Markets, Wiffens manager Ruth Roxburgh is hoping that if there’s a lot of resistance during the consultation process, that it might stop there.

She’d like to see customers and community members rise up against the proposal.

“I hope that we have enough customers that think about what it might mean to the markets,” Ruth says.

During the consultation process, Ruth says the ACT government is meant to consider a number of things such as product diversity, quality of service, environmental gains, integration with existing retail or commercial centres, footprint and car parking.

“We think it’s all incompatible,” she says.

“There are already five supermarkets within five kilometres of us. Why put one here seeing it really competes with us and takes our customers?

“If Aldi takes even a small proportion of these retailers’ customer base, it will threaten their economic viability in already challenging conditions.”

Barbara says their views against Aldi haven’t been a knee-jerk reaction and she has thought it over again and again, and just can’t see any positives in building it.

They have met with the consultancy firm running the stakeholder engagement on behalf of the development and have heard their views, too.

“What they’re trying to do is get us on side so they don’t have the hurdle of major objections,” she says.

“We really cannot see any advantage to having them there.

“The market has always been a thriving shopping hub and the impacts of Aldi will be detrimental to Canberra as a whole.

“If Aldi was to impact on that, it would be a shame to see it falter. There’s a lot of money invested here by the tenants as well.”

Ruth says having a major international supermarket next to a locally-owned and operated fresh food market is in direct conflict with the spirit and intent in which the markets were originally established, which was to provide a location for local independent food retailers to do business.

“Farmers would drive here and sell stuff off the back of a truck and the government said: ‘Let’s give them a permanent spot’,” she says.

“All the shops here are locally owned and locally run. All the money stays in Canberra and then they’re going to put in a German multinational with competitive prices.

“They’ve got all that market power. They’ve got the power to discount the prices.”

Ruth says Aldi will also threaten some of the last independent delis or bakers or greengrocers in Canberra.

“The market power… of Aldi threatens one of the last remaining hubs of local food retailing outside of shopping centres in Canberra,” she says.

“We can’t really see why it’s really necessary to have it here. What purpose is it really serving?”

Ruth believes putting an Aldi in will also have an impact on parking at the markets.

“It is already very difficult to turn off Canberra Avenue as well as park at the markets and surrounding streets particularly in peak periods,” she says.

“The addition of an Aldi would make this situation worse impacting on customer experience and customer retention.”

Ruth says they’re not against supermarkets and don’t want people to think they are, in fact, she is worried that the local supermarkets will be hurt, too.

“We respect there’s people wanting to go to the supermarket but there are enough in the area,” she says.

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