Race on for market dates

By Kath Gannaway
A MOVE by Yarra Valley Racing Centre to capitalise on the popularity of the market culture in the region will see three markets operating on the first Sunday of the month in Yarra Glen and Healesville.
Yarra Valley Racing Inc. declined to renew its lease with Craft Markets Australia (CMA) which has operated the market at the racecourse for the past 12 years, opting to start up their own market, the Yarra Valley Market, which will start in September.
The move left the Mornington Peninsula-based market company with no option but to search for a new location.
CMA manager Allison Dillon told the Mail she and her stallholders were very disappointed with the race club’s decision and after building up a loyal following for more than a decade were looking at alternatives such as Whittlesea and Geelong.
Healesville Amateur Racing Club has stepped in, however, offering their racecourse as an alternative, with the only hitch being the potential impact on the long-established Healesville Community Market.
HARC president John O’Neill said he was shocked when he realised the CMA could be potentially lost to the Yarra Valley and put the proposal to the owners.
“This market is worth over $5 million to the local community,” he said. “A loss like this to the underlying retail, tourism and accommodation sectors within the Valley, so soon after the Black Saturday fires would be crippling,” he said.
Vice-president Anthony Schache said the HARC had worked with CMA to come to an arrangement they anticipated could return $20,000 to the Healesville community.
Yarra Valley Racing CEO Brett Shambrook said the move on their part had been driven by an opportunity to further develop the Yarra Valley Racing Centre as a true community asset.