Examination of Witnesses (Questions 196
- 199)
TUESDAY 31 MARCH 2009
CLLR MELVYN
TEARE AND
CLLR ROBIN
BOWEN-WILLIAMS
Q196 Chair: May I welcome both of
you. Can I ask that in your responses to questions you try and
concentrate on the experience of your own market rather than generalising
because we have had lots of other witnesses who have talked about
markets generally. I think what we are hoping to do in this session
is to explore your lessons from your own particular markets rather
than any kind of general ones. Do you believe your market is thriving
or in decline, and why it is either thriving or in decline?
Cllr Teare: I believe our market
is actually thriving. It is a local authority-run market. It consists
of a Saturday market, which has up to 171 stalls, and a Wednesday
market, which has up to 141 stalls. It is a street market which
operates on our primary frontage within St Albans city. The market
itself has been in existence, history says, for about 2,000 years.
As a local authority we gained a charter back in 1553 in order
to be able to operate it.
Q197 Chair: There is no need for
both of you to repeat stuff which is in the written submissions
because we know that. I think we are more interested in teasing
out what the key factors are that lead to the success of your
market.
Cllr Teare: One of the key successes
is the marketing and promotion that we are undertaking with the
market. Another is the capital investment that we are prepared
to put into the market. I have got £50,000 of capital expenditure
allocated for the forthcoming year in order to look at improvements
to the market stalls that we provide. We provide the infrastructure
that is brought out at four o'clock in the morning on Wednesdays
and Saturdays. So when the market trader comes in the stall is
already provided for them, they just have to bring their goods
in. We also provide free car parking for them. We provide refuse
and waste recycling. We do have a tendency to look after the market
traders.
Cllr Bowen-Williams: The response
to your own question would be that I fear the very structure of
the market is in decline. Could I ask a question? What has been
meant by the local authorities? What are local authorities as
the questions are asked?
Q198 Chair: Councillor Bowen-Williams,
you know perfectly well what the local authorities are. If you
want to make a point about the role of the town council versus
the unitary authority then feel free to make it.
Cllr Bowen-Williams: I think that
is the point I would particularly want to make, especially after
what has just been said about a district council paying for the
cleaning up. In Bletchley, as you are well aware, about four years
ago the Milton Keynes Council Unitary Authority decided, "Right,
that's it; we're going to scrap the market." As a town council
with only a town precept to support us, so no funds of money,
we decided it was important for our local community to maintain
this market. I would not dream of claiming 2,000 years of market
history. I think the first charter was in 1609 when it was described
as a fair having been run since time immemorial, which I think
takes us back to the reign of Edward I. Certainly there is some
evidence within the same area of there being a market in the 13th
Century.
Q199 Sir Paul Beresford: So if your
market is in decline, was Milton Keynes right?
Cllr Bowen-Williams: There have
been other changes. In the first two full years in which it ran
it was sustainable. One reason is because the expenses incurred
by a town council are quite dramatically less. We now have—and
he is a very young and enthusiastic young man—a "toby",
he is not a full-timer but it is part of his job, and he is trying
very hard. Many of the few remaining traders we have want to see
the market develop and so do we. We now hold monthly meetings
of traders and invite them to express their opinions and row in.
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