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These are given by FARMA (The National Farmers’ Retail and Markets’ Association), announced at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

The joint award was presented to Moseley and Queen’s Park Farmers’ Market, London, by celebrity cook Clarissa Dickson Wright.

All entrants were ‘mystery shopped’ as part of the judging process and the judges have visited each finalist to make their assessments.

David Isgrove, chairman of the Moseley Forum, who set up and is on the committee which runs the farmers market, hopes to see a local presentation at the next market on 25th February.

The Awards, known collectively as the ‘FARMAs’, recognise those farm shops, farmers’ markets, pick-your own and farm attraction sites which are leading the way in 2012. They exemplify a passion for local food, a commitment to the farming and the environment, a talent for retail, and the fruits of a lot of hard work.

They stand out amongst other ‘local food awards’ as they are judged by the farm retail sector itself, and awarded to those businesses who they believe to be outstanding in what they have achieved and the way in which they have achieved it.

Read more here.

Readers who read about the tram depot saga some time ago, but had not seen a picture of this fine building, will have welcomed the Brummie’s link to Cllr Martin Mullaney’s blogspot.

He writes:

The Planning Committee will be visiting the former tram depot offices at 582 Moseley Road at the corner of Trafalgar Road. The Committee will be looking at the state of building following my complaint at Planning Committee today about the lack of planning enforcement on this building . . .

This is a long history of unauthorised work at this building since 2004. Indeed, many residents will know that I made a YouTube about the state of this building in 2005. I had become fed up with the lack of action by our Planning officers to stop the owner doing unauthorised demolition on the building. My YouTube video showed some of the unauthorised demolition work, which included the complete gutting of the interior. It also showed how the owner had undermined the foundations, which for a period made the entire building structurally unstable. For this piece of public service, I was suspended for a month as a Councillor, since 21seconds of the video involved me walking inside a section of the building and was deemed to be trespass.

Read more here: http://martinmullaney.blogspot.com/2012/01/planning-committee-will-be-visiting.html

Commenting on the recent imposition of even heavier service charges to the Wholesale Market traders, a council spokesman said there had been years of taxpayer-funded subsidies.  

Is that true? Mark Tate said the markets were making a profit until two years ago

On August 25^th it was reported that the Wholesale Markets Association’s chairman Mark Tate, of George Perry fruit and veg, said that the myths busting survey published on the council’s website was flawed.  

Amongst other allegations of inaccurate claims made on the council’s myth-busting site was a statement that the markets lost £0.8 million 2010/2011.

Mr Tate replied that they were making a profit until two years ago.

He said: “We have businesses with a total turnover of £275 million a year. If the council is losing money it is because of its mismanagement.” 

What sort of service do the traders get for their money? 

The existing wholesale markets are in a poor state of repair and that is indisputably a failure of their council landlords. If the markets were in profit for so many years, why did the council not maintain their premises? What happened to the fees paid? 

Two steps should be taken and the truth put on record: 

A survey of the condition of the market buildings 

Scrutiny of the council’s records to discover revenues received during the last ten years, and what has been spent on repairs and maintenance.

After 30-40 years of ‘hurt’, industry is coming home

Cllr John Clancy noted that manufacturing is coming back to the city as the trend to outsourcing is reversing, with wages rising in Asia and the increasing cost of transporting goods.

 With loss of industrial land to office and retail building, he feared that there might not be enough land left to meet industrial needs in a rebalanced and relocalised economy.  

Readers may hear this address, but as the council left a computer presentation running which fed into this live video, in effect it became an audio: http://justin.tv/bcc_meetings/b/307909910

Postscript 

‘Laddish’ readers will enjoy his opening remarks, in response to council deputy leader describing the planning committee as ‘Vestal Virgins’, after they turned down permission for a series of animated advertising hoardings – a multimillion contract which Mr Tilsley had favoured.

On Thursday, 2nd February, Borough Market in Southwark – London’s oldest fruit and veg market which has more than 100 stalls offering a variety of British and international produce. – was given a blue plaque. This was awarded by Southwark Council – after a public vote – to celebrate more than 250 years of trading and recognise the market’s outstanding contribution to the local community.

The market has occupied its current site just south of Southwark Cathedral since the 18th century, although records show traders were selling goods on the south side of London Bridge as far back as 1014. Closed by Parliament in 1755, a group of Southwark residents raised £6,000 to buy a patch of land known locally as The Triangle, formerly the churchyard of St Margaret’s, and reopened the market.

                                                    The Victorian market roof will be fully restored

Later this year, the area known as 3 Crown Square will be handed back following the completion of Network Rail work, and this will see the return of the fully restored Victorian market roof and a new home for the market’s traders. 

Donald Hyslop, chairman of the Trustees of Borough Market, said: “Borough Market is honoured to have been awarded this blue plaque voted for by the people of Southwark. Since the 13th century, the market has served London and continues to do so today, providing the city with a sustainable, independent, quality food market, rooted in the local community.” 

Veronica Ward, Southwark’s cabinet member for culture said: “Borough Market is not only part of the borough’s long history but a famous landmark in London which sells produce of a very high quality and sets a high standard for food in London. It is wonderful that the market should be recognised in this way.” 

Will Birmingham Council also serve and invest in its markets?

 Aggregated in The Brummie today, Alan Clawley’s article in the Birmingham Press gives several pointers to Waheed Nazir, the council’s ‘Director of Planning and Regeneration’. In Clawley’s view: 

• the desire for growth has to be balanced against the need to create a just and fair society whose weakest members are not exploited by the most powerful;
• the creation of 50,600 new homes in Birmingham would have a big impact on the environment. Large amounts of energy would be used in the construction process;
• if they used land that was currently vacant there would be a loss of open space;
• if they used land cleared of council housing there would be a lowering of density. Unless dwellings were near to where their occupants worked, went to school and shopped they would increase the need for travel in the city;
• unless the new homes were zero-carbon, they would increase energy use in the city. Whilst the city’s existing homes were a long way from meeting such a standard it made only a marginal impact to require new ones to do so;
• re the City’s support for the expansion of the Airport: air travel is extremely damaging to the environment; the policy does not ‘balance growth with environment’ but favours growth at the expense of environment. 

Alan Clawley’s final comment was that making use of existing buildings was an excellent way of conserving energy and should not be restricted to places like the Custard Factory but should apply to all buildings, including the Central Library and the NatWest Tower in Colmore Row. 

Would James Delingpole – or Martin Durkin – describe this advice as ‘green zealotry’?

Sounds like good commonsense to this reader.

Last month it was reported that there will be a High Court hearing in February over a £12 million in a Phoenix Venture Holdings account which was allegedly withdrawn by HBOS, now part of the Lloyds TSB group, as part of a claim for work done with MG Rover. 

Yesterday, news came that Deloitte’s relationship with the Phoenix Four, the businessmen who led the purchase of MG Rover from BMW, the German carmaker, in 2000 is under renewed scrutiny. 

Bloomberg News reports that the Accountancy & Actuarial Discipline Board, the UK’s accounting regulator, has ‘issued a complaint’ against Deloitte LLP for failing to consider “the conflicts of interest and self- interest” in advising both MG Rover Group Ltd and its parent company, Phoenix Venture Holdings. 

The complaints will be heard by an independent tribunal nominated by the AADB, which has the power to issue an unlimited fine.