Any questions, representations and statements of case submitted in accordance with the Council’s procedures will be reported.
The following question and statement were submitted by Mr Wynd:
Approximately a year ago I read a story that Green Party was trying to get funds for a kid’s park in Clarendon Park as residents were having to fund it themselves. I'm not sure of the outcome of this whether the council have addressed this open space for the public.
In addition to this I highlight the design of the Rally open space, a path has been put straight through the middle of this instead of widening the old path route.
I was invited to help save Tudor Rally adventure playground along with eight other kids play schemes via a protest. I'm glad to see with the pressure placed on the council they backed down and have now funded these schemes.
The development plans for Beaumont Park, so another loss of open space.
I invite the other councillors to highlight any other loss of open spaces they have encountered. I say this as the council’s argument for the market to be left as an open space lacks its validity.
The council announced their original proposition for the new market and convinced the traders to move to Green Dragon Square, they demolished the old market then realised this was a great open space for the public. I'm unsure how they didn't realise this before as I have seen three developments in this meeting where they used footage from the air. Why wasn't this utilised for the market, who knows.
I attended a meeting last year where I highlighted to the attendees that I had seen the Leicester public asking for a larger market/ undercover space. I also voiced this in the last meeting.
In a previous scrutiny meeting it was highlighted that four propositions would be unveiled, this never came to light but in the last meeting I was advised that three other propositions existed and could be considered. It is unclear but seems that none of these propositions were any bigger for the public to vote on.
The council has agreed with themselves that the 1 proposition they put forward was a success and is now pushing forward to the planning stage. The story was run by both the BBC and Leicester Live, and in their Facebook groups the council took a right slating over the proposals, very little agreement with the council’s proposals.
I posted in a Leicester based Facebook group about the above and proposition that was going to be implemented and got nearly 500 like reacts indicating they agreed the council had not got this right.
I asked two times this year what was happening over the market and got no response, Then the council announced they were pushing on with their plans. It looks like the decision had already been made.
I have spoken to Leicester Media Online who say they have received a lot of objections about the market. They are awaiting a statement from the council before running a new story.
I have been led to believe that the original petition of 10,000 plus signatures cannot be used as an objection to the plans and feel by dragging of heels on this people have started to give up the fight against the council pushing through this proposal.
I feel a bigger option needs to be considered and proposed by the council. Then the four propositions given to the public to have the final say. I suggest these are also made transparent as to size of stalls, venue etc.
So my question, and so this is documented in black and white.
Because of the above, the lack of support for the proposal I've seen, do you feel you should continue as planned or that a 4th larger proposition be added and it put to the people of Leicester to vote?
And by a vote, I mean a fully transparent, involving all local media, to make the vote easily accessible to all.
Minutes:
The following statement and question was presented to the Commission by Mr Nick Wynd:
Approximately a year ago I read a story that Green Party was trying to get funds
for a kid’s park in Clarendon Park as residents were having to fund it
themselves. I'm not sure of the outcome of this whether the council have
addressed this open space for the public.
In addition to this I highlight the design of the Rally open space, a path has been
put straight through the middle of this instead of widening the old path route.
I was invited to help save Tudor Rally adventure playground along with eight
other kids play schemes via a protest. I'm glad to see with the pressure placed
on the council they backed down and have now funded these schemes.
The development plans for Beaumont Park, so another loss of open space.
I invite the other councillors to highlight any other loss of open spaces they have
encountered. I say this as the council’s argument for the market to be left as an
open space lacks its validity.
The council announced their original proposition for the new market and
convinced the traders to move to Green Dragon Square, they demolished the
old market then realised this was a great open space for the public. I'm unsure
how they didn't realise this before as I have seen three developments in this
meeting where they used footage from the air. Why wasn't this utilised for the
market, who knows.
I attended a meeting last year where I highlighted to the attendees that I had
seen the Leicester public asking for a larger market/ undercover space. I also
voiced this in the last meeting.
In a previous scrutiny meeting it was highlighted that four propositions would be
unveiled, this never came to light but in the last meeting I was advised that three
other propositions existed and could be considered. It is unclear but seems that
none of these propositions were any bigger for the public to vote on.
The council has agreed with themselves that the 1 proposition they put forward
was a success and is now pushing forward to the planning stage. The story was
run by both the BBC and Leicester Live, and in their Facebook groups the
council took a right slating over the proposals, very little agreement with the
council’s proposals.
I posted in a Leicester based Facebook group about the above and proposition
that was going to be implemented and got nearly 500 like reacts indicating they
agreed the council had not got this right.
I asked two times this year what was happening over the market and got no
response, Then the council announced they were pushing on with their plans. It
looks like the decision had already been made.
I have spoken to Leicester Media Online who say they have received a lot of
objections about the market. They are awaiting a statement from the council
before running a new story.
I have been led to believe that the original petition of 10,000 plus signatures
cannot be used as an objection to the plans and feel by dragging of heels on
this people have started to give up the fight against the council pushing through
this proposal.
I feel a bigger option needs to be considered and proposed by the council. Then
the four propositions given to the public to have the final say. I suggest these
are also made transparent as to size of stalls, venue etc.
So my question, and so this is documented in black and white.
Because of the above, the lack of support for the proposal I've seen, do you feel
you should continue as planned or that a 4th larger proposition be added and it
put to the people of Leicester to vote?
And by a vote, I mean a fully transparent, involving all local media, to make the
vote easily accessible to all.
The Chair thanked Mr Wynd for the question and invited an officer to respond.
The Head of Economic Regeneration replied:
· The City Mayor paused the scheme in May 2024 to allow options for the best use of the space to be considered.
· A public consultation ending in December 2024 resulted in 60% of respondents (more than 1000 people) supporting the option to create a major new event space in the heart of the city.
· A decision had not yet been made on the development. Several options had been brought to EDTCE Scrutiny in December 2024, which were still under consideration:
o Returning to the original proposal, which has the market occupying the bulk of the area in front of the Corn Exchange
o Keeping the market permanently on Green Dragon Square.
o Locating the market in the link between Green Dragon Square and Cank Street.
o Locating the market in front of the Food Hall along with a flexible event space in front of the Corn Exchange
o Not having a market at all
· Given the support in the public and trader consultation for a market building with a flexible event space in front of the Corn Exchange, the project team were developing this design further.
· New designs, planning applications and detailed costs would now be drawn up, before a decision can be taken.
· The City Mayor has continued to meet with market trader representatives several times throughout this process and would continue to do so.
· It was agreed that the final option should be undercover, including a roof to protect traders from the weather.
· The petition referenced by My Wynd had not been submitted. Any petitions presented would be dealt with in line with the Council’s published petitions scheme, including any exclusions.
· Subject to planning permission, work could start on site from the summer of 2025.
In response to a supplementary question about the size and use of space in the proposed plans, the Head of Economic Regeneration noted: