The Ashburton Market Day will go ahead on September 26, if it can supply the adequate documentation in time.
Market organsier Carol Johns has been given until September 16 to submit a traffic management plan, health and safety, and insurance documentation or risk the requested road closure for the event being withdrawn.
The council also resolved to apply conditions on the market day to protect the recent multi-million dollar investment in the CBD.
Johns was pleased with the decision and said “you can be sure I will be working with council to ensure a great day”.
A hearing was required for the event after objections to the proposed road closure of East Street.
Johns, who is standing for a seat on the council in the upcoming elections, said she already has 120 stallholders and more than half of those were locals.
The event could draw up to 10,000 people to the town on what would ordinarily be a quiet Monday, Johns said.
“It’s one day, it’s all I’m asking for.”
Objecting retailers said it’s another day of impacted trading after a tough two-year stretch.
Three years ago, Bob McDonald had fronted the council to campaign for Boulevard Day to go ahead on East Street, but in a contradiction he was representing CBD businesses calling for the replica event to go somewhere else.
He said he would cop that criticism but “things had changed”.
The CBD upgrade has introduced a one-way system along Burnett and Tancred streets so closing off East Street closes the whole CBD, he said.
It was why Boulevard Day, which is not going ahead for a third straight year, had been planned to relocate to the Ashburton Domain.
“We’ve moved on. Times have changed,” Macdonald said suggesting there were better alternatives to East Street.
Plan B was to hold the market day in the West Street carpark, but being a work day and the annual Bookarama also being on it was ruled out.
The council voted to approve the road closure of East Street, as well as Tancred and Burnett streets, on the proviso the adequate documentation was provided in time.
In their support of the closure, councillors Rodger Letham and Dianne Rawlinson both criticised the objectors’ arguments as being “light”.
Councillors Leen Braam, John Falloon, and Stuart Wilson opposed the closure.

• By Jonathan Leask