Traders 'at the heart' of city market revamp plans

A council says it is putting the needs of traders "front and centre" of £740,000 plans to revamp a city centre market.

Norwich City Council said "ageing infrastructure" and environmental issues meant Norwich Market - one of the oldest in the country - could not maximise its full potential.

Mark Wright, who runs Taxi Vintage Clothing, said during a full council meeting that traders were not fully consulted over the cost and the future of the market.

Another trader, Toby Westgarth from Sir Toby's Beers, said it felt like the council was making efforts to invite traders to workshops and meetings to have their voices heard.

Improvements to the market were last made almost 20 years ago when in 2006, temporary structures were replaced with ones which had permanent metal roofs.

Claire Kidman, Labour city councillor responsible for prosperity, culture and tourism, said the council would be installing new roller shutters, CCTV to deter anti-social behaviour, reflective paint to reduce the heat inside the markets - and methods to reduce the pigeon population.

But Mr Westgarth said he believed the changes should have been installed five years ago.

"Twenty years ago, they made these wooden structures more solid... however 10 years after that more consultation happened and an embargo was lifted on food with a huge flurry of street food... but the market wasn't physically set up for that environment," he said.

The market was not designed for food stalls, he said, and it was a "bit of a free for all".

However, in recent years he said a larger team of people had come together to run the markets and felt they was listening to concerns.

At the full city council meeting last week, Mr Wright said traders had not been properly consulted when the market was revamped almost 20 years ago and that it was a "sliding doors moment".

He said: "The 2006 revamp done without sufficient traders input resulted in a commercial disaster where six years later, nearly half the stalls were empty."

In response, Ms Kidman said traders were "at the heart" of plans, and workshops, meetings and surveys had been completed for traders to provide feedback to feed into the plans.

Speaking to BBC Radio Norfolk, she said: "Norwich market is much loved and iconic and it's really important to note we want to retain the market's historical identity and character - but it has to meet the need of future consumers locally and regionally and internationally."

She said the council received feedback from members of the public and traders to help enhance the area to make it viable, attractive and to increase footfall.

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