35 Davy Court Rochester Kent ME1 1AE

Dear Sir I am particularly concerned to read that the Rochester Christmas market is to close. It was a very popular event with local residents and brought in significant numbers of people into our town centre at a core trading period. Rochester high street will need to fight to attract shoppers that would otherwise be attracted to Bluewater or Maidstone and it is clear that without an incentive or special attraction many local business may suffer this year should this market not go ahead. Last year it was estimated that each visitor spend 30 on the high street netting a return on investment of 7.5m. Even assuming a sixth of that figure nets the area 1.3m which is crucial for local business; the return on investment for the Council is improved business performance in town centres Successful events such as these could be managed by other bodies, including the Council, which has worked successfully on other similar sized events in the past. Given the amount of revenue for local business this is something I will be exploring with Council officers

Regards

Cllr Tristan Osborne Medway Labour