FORMER Fremantle Markets stallholders will hold a rally this week to protest against John and Jamie Murdoch’s management of the markets.
Organiser Ed Seah said he and other stallholders had been unfairly treated and wanted to highlight the actions of the Murdoch brothers so that the City of Fremantle could do something to stop them.
Mr Seah said he was still confused about why he was not offered a new lease at the markets.
“The business supports two families. My father is 65 and he has Parkinson’s and diabetes, and I am a single father of three,” he said.
However, Fremantle Markets director Jamie Murdoch said Mr Seah was not offered a new lease because he was not a good stallholder.
“His house-keeping and general attitude were poor. We also had a discussion with him about changing his product mix to reduce the preponderance of Asian-made Australiana. He did not respond to any of our suggestions,” he said.
Bookstore stallholder Penny Bannister said she left the markets with nothing after she was forced to leave.
“I was priced out in favour of someone else they wanted and I couldn’t sell my place,” she said.
Ms Bannister had held a stall at the markets for 25 years. She has since moved to High Street.
Mr Murdoch admitted that management had removed flyers directing people to Ms Bannister’s new location from the markets.
“We were happy that stalls displayed signs directing people to her new premises. However, we do try to limit the amount of extraneous signage, and three months after she left, we felt we had done enough for her,” he said.
Mr Murdoch said he would not be rushing to fill empty stalls “willy-nilly” because the focus was on the long-term.
“With the exception of an area in the yard, which is being remodelled, there is only one vacancy and this is consistent with our on-going occupancy rate,” he said.
Mr Murdoch said that with further layout changes to be done, it was unlikely that the situation would be stabilised before April.