Queenstown lakefront traders bring new market to Frankton

After deeming their regular trading post by Lake Wakatipu no longer viable because of new bylaw requirements, a group of sellers is setting up a new market in Country Lane Retail Village.

The first "Makers Market Country Lane" will be held on Sunday, April 28, and the market will run fortnightly after this.

Longterm Queenstown stallholder Jan Nicholson, who makes possum fur slippers for her brand Cozi Toez, is one of the traders setting up the market.

The empty green space off State Highway Six will become a local artisan market from April 28.

She says they've liaised to use an empty paddock space at the Frankton retail village, and although she can't yet confirm the number of stallholders, she says the site has room for 35 stalls, along with four food trucks.

After newly introduced requirements to the Queenstown Lakes District Council's Activities in Public Places Bylaw 2023 meant traders had to move every hour and be spaced 50 metres apart starting from January 10, Ms Nicholson has stopped selling at the Lakefront site.

Jan Nicholson has halted trade by the lakeside following the threat of enforcement action and confiscation of handmade products by the council.

Retail village owner Tineke Enright says she is equally excited to host the markets and is hoping it'll bring new people to the village.

"It's a perfect fit for us, we're all about supporting small local sellers...I actually started out doing markets 10 years ago."

Although the village is located just a stone's throw from Frankton's State Highway Six, she says there are still plenty of locals who are only just discovering its existence.

Ms Enright and her brother are fourth generation owners of the land, originally used for farming, and now they've turned it into a retail village while still keeping some "hobby animals" around.

She sells her children's and baby clothes label from The Barn, a shop located in the village that she runs with two other artisan makers.

Meanwhile Ms Nicholson says she's excited to start trading again, after not bringing home her usual summer earnings from selling to those walking past at the Queenstown waterfront.

Coming up with a new plan was a necessity, Ms Nicholson says.

In their communication with the QLDC, Ms Nicholson says stallholders offered to pay a "substantial commercial fee" to trade in the prime lakeside location, but she says the council wasn't open to this.

The first market will be held on Sunday, April 28 from 10am to 3pm at the Country Lane Retail Village.