Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Bhavsar and Manish Sood.

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business on the agenda, and/or indicate that Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

No declarations were made at this time.

The minutes of the previous meeting, held on Monday 27 April 2009 have been circulated and the Task Group is asked to confirm them as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

that the minutes of the meeting of the Leicester Markets Review meeting held on 27^th April 2009 be confirmed as a correct record.

Councillor Newcombe will provide the Task Group with feedback from the site visits that took place to the Leicester and Birmingham Markets.

Councillor Newcombe provided feedback from the site visits that had taken place to the Leicester and Birmingham Markets.

Birmingham Market – 29^th April 2009

Councillor Newcombe stated that he and Councillor Naylor had visited Birmingham Market on 29^th April.

Regarding the Indoor Market, this offered a good variety of stalls and was a bright and fresh environment and was located in a pedestrian only area with a clean street and generated a positive outlook. The Outdoor Market was not as good and had fewer stalls than Leicester, although waste material was deposited in a nearby compactor. No smell was evident around the compactor, unlike the smell around the refuse vehicle at Leicester. No information was gained as to waste collection arrangements from the Indoor Market. Good bus links existed to the rear of Birmingham Market and there was also a Service Yard.

Officers reported that Birmingham Market had been built some 5 years previously. The compactor was easier to manage with smaller amount of rubbish but Leicester Market generated around 5 tons of rubbish per working day.

Councillor Naylor stated that a full report would be circulated soon.

Leicester Market – 8^th May 2009

Notes of the Leicester Market Site Visit were circulated at the meeting. Certain issues were highlighted, particularly the refuse vehicle located at the rear of WH Smith, the number of cars that accessed the area around the outside of the market, the poor décor in the Indoor market and the decrepit condition of the underground storage area at the Indoor market.

The officers stated that, in contrast the Outdoor Market was successful and vibrant and people generally liked the visual impact. A number of compliments had been received from other local authorities and there was a need to balance the positives against the negatives. The Chair stated that it was a case of getting the balance right.

Discussion took place around the actions that were required and these are summarised as follows: -

• Remove refuse vehicle-look to alternatives, compactors maybe
• Deal with traffic problems
• Lighting within Market
• Street furniture to attract people back to market area
• Spruce-up Outdoor Market
• Look to re-develop Indoor Market
• Look to make Market an extension of The Lanes – attract shoppers to the area

• Look at possibility of modern approach of ‘demountable’ market, removal of stalls at end of day, utilise space for other purposes at times when market closed
• Seek advice from Hammersons, who developed the Highcross Centre/The Shires and also developed the new Birmingham Market, to look at Leicester Market and suggest improvements
• Look to create ‘wow factor’ at approaches to the market from High Street, Horsefair Street and The Lanes.

Regarding the indoor market the officers stated that another factor was the current ownership of the Corn Exchange building in the centre of the market that was currently partly empty. If this building was brought into City Council ownership indoor stalls could be located in that building and a compactor could be located at the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

Councillor Newcombe will provide feedback to the Task Group from the focus group event that took place with residents.

i)            Feedback from Citizens’ Panel

A report was circulated that set out the feedback received from the Leicester Market Users’ Survey Citizens’ Panel on 8^th June 2009.

The Chair stated that 11 questionnaires had been completed during the Panel meeting and of these, 9 regarded themselves as regular users of the market. The event was felt to have been very useful.

RESOLVED:

                                    that the feedback, as set out in the report, be noted.

ii)            Questionnaire/Analysis

The officers presented a copy of the questionnaire that had been drawn up for the Citizens’ Panel meeting and incorporated an analysis of the responses received. From the results it was clear that there were advertising issues around the Market Delivery Service and that attention was required to address concerns around the Customer Toilets and the Entrances to the market.

It was stated that work around the ethnic background of participants to the Citizens Panel meeting would be desirable and officers stated that they would undertake further work.

Members questioned whether there was any information available on what other Markets were doing around satisfaction levels, as this had been commented on at a recent conference. The officers stated that information relating to Preston market was available and would be presented at the next meeting.

RESOLVED:

                        that the actions outlined be noted.

Nick Rhodes, Head of Markets and Enterprise will lead a discussion on the layout, structure and facilities of Leicester Market. The layout plan of the Leicester Market is attached for your information.

Officers circulated a plan showing the overall layout of the Indoor/Outdoor Market as requested at a previous meeting.

Officers stated that they were continually looking to get different stalls into the Market, such as the food kiosk. As a way of making the Market more attractive, and building on the strengths of the Market, it was hoped that a Food Officer would be appointed soon to educate young people and adults on food and on cooking skills.

RESOLVED:

                        that the information be noted.

The Task Group is asked to indicate how it wishes to proceed with this review.

i)          Site Visit

The Chair suggested that a site visit to Camden and Borough Markets in London should be arranged on the basis of the Chair and a maximum of 4 other Members, and the relevant officer(s).

RESOLVED:

that it be agreed that Councillor Newcombe (Chair) and Councillors Hall, Naylor and Potter would visit Camden and Borough Markets on Friday 17^th July 2009.

It was agreed that the next meeting of the Leicester Markets Review, likely to be on a date to be agreed at the end of July 2009, would meet to look at the Regeneration and Transport issues relating to the operation of the Market, linked to the Retail Sector in the City Centre and be chaired by Councillor Hall.

The Chair declared the meeting closed at 4.30 pm.