The City Mayor attended the meeting to answer
questions from members of the Commission regarding potential
proposals for the market place.
The Chair noted that a preferred option was still to
be decided upon, and once it was, it would be considered by the
Commission.
The City Mayor gave some background on the issue and
noted that:
- Whilst
the area had been used as a market place for around 800 years, for
much of this time its use had been flexible to include uses other
than markets.
- It had
become clear that the stalls and roof had become worn
down.
- Previously, out of trading hours, the space had become an
intimidating area for the public and people had not wanted to walk
through or around it.
- The
roof cover had meant that the space was unsuitable to be used for
other purposes.
- It had
been decided to replace the roof and reinvest in the market
place. When the roof was taken down, it
had been thought as to whether a similarly inflexible structure was
desirable given what had been revealed, and whether it would be
more desirable to have a space that could be used more flexibly and
also allow the facades of adjacent buildings to be
seen.
- The
City Mayor was intensely aware that traders were understandably
troubled at the prospect of not returning to the original
site.
- The
City Mayor had met with traders and had constructive
discussions. They had put their case
strongly and the City Mayor understood their concerns.
- Broadly speaking, the options for the future location of the
market were:
- Return
to the original proposal with the market in the original location
in front of the Corn Exchange.
- Keep
the market on Green Dragon Square.
- Use
space being cleared between Green Dragon Square and Cank
Street.
- Locate
the market in front of the Food Hall, keeping a portion of the
remainder of the space in front of the Corn Exchange open and
flexible in terms of use.
- The
City Mayor would meet with traders again once the preferred option
was confirmed. There would then be a
process of consultation which would invite comments on the proposed
option. During this consultation period there would be a further
opportunity for scrutiny to ask questions and comment.
The Commission was invited to ask questions and make
comments and the City Mayor to respond. Key points
included:
- The
City Mayor had looked at markets around the country and had
reported back on how good several were.
However, this did not necessarily mean that they could be
copied.
- Once
the old market had been demolished the potential of the space was
revealed. Many had questioned whether returning to the traditional
layout of the market in that location was the best use of the
space. Planning permission had already
been granted to develop across the whole space, and it could still
be decided to return to this option.
However, other options had seemed attractive and were worth
considering.
- In
terms of contractors, they had been brought in to take down
existing stalls and clear the space.
Contractors were keen to proceed once a decision was
made.
- In
terms of timescale, it was aimed to talk with traders in the next
three-to-four weeks, after which there would be a consultation over
approximately six weeks. Whichever
option was chosen, it would not be delivered instantly. The more elaborate the solution, the longer it
would take to deliver.
- In
terms of planning, any solution would need a further planning
application and consent. This was an
argument for sticking with the original plan. However, there was a once in a lifetime
opportunity to think about how the space was used so it was
important to get this right, even if it took slightly more
time.
- Costs
would depend on which option was taken.
The original scheme would be one that was costly. It was thought that other solutions ought to be
containable within the original costs and could possible even be
cheaper. This would need to be worked
out before a decision was made as cost was important.
- The
Director for Tourism, Culture and Inward Investment noted that
almost all traders had relocated to the Temporary Market site on
Green Dragon Square, and most of those were still
trading. Rents were still charged but
at a discounted rate to support traders during the period of the
disruption.
- The
timeframe for when the redeveloped market would be open, and
trading would depend on the option chosen. It was thought that the longest option would be to
rebuild on the Cank Street link and the quickest would be to keep
the market on Green Dragon Square. It
was further thought that the next quickest option would be to put a
structure on part of the market square and it was thought that the
original proposal would take some time.
- It was
planned to invite comments on the proposed solution. Time and cost needed to be taken into
account.
- In
response to concerns raised over what had happened with the market
in Nottingham, the City Mayor suggested that the Council could
learn from what had happened in Nottingham.
- In
response to concerns raised about the attractiveness of the
surrounding buildings, it was stated that amongst those in support
of leaving the space open were the Civic Society due to the facades
being revealed.
- The
project should consider how Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) could be
managed, particularly when the market was closed at
night.
- It was
reiterated that there was a lot of construction work associated
with the original scheme and that the Cank Street link option would
also take a long time as it would involve demolition and
design. Construction on only part of
the square could be less problematic, however, experts would need
to be consulted to inform the way forward.
- It
needed to be ascertained what would be deliverable, and what time
and cost it would take.
- The
City Mayor stated that it had been a pleasure to work with the
market traders who were passionate about their businesses and their
stake in the market, and who had put forward constructive
suggestions.
AGREED:
That Scrutiny is given an opportunity to comment on
the proposed option.