Examination of Witnesses (Questions 260
- 261)
TUESDAY 31 MARCH 2009
MR STEPHEN
DOUGLASS, MR
CHRIS WROE
AND MS
TOT BRILL
Q260 Chair: What about the tourism
angle?
Ms Brill: Obviously Portobello
Road is a major tourist attraction and that is both a blessing
and a curse. It means that tourists come on Saturday, and that
is an enormously successful antique and craft market and fashion
market, but during the rest of the week people turn up and say,
"Well, where is it?" It does not thrive in the same
way during the week and we have a market that serves at least
two completely different sets of customers. The same market is
serving tourists at the weekend and local people during the week
and they have very different needs and trying to balance those
is interesting. A market is not just one thing. Big street markets
become a series of different markets brought together and operate
in different ways on different days.
Q261 Chair: Mr Douglass?
Mr Douglass: We have not specifically
worked with the PCT but we are working, for example, with arts
organisations developing an arts and craft market in one part
of the borough. There are some examples where we are starting
to do that. It is new development, new opportunities and I think
again, I referred to the review that we have done, that does highlight
that is something we need to do much more. In particular you mentioned
the link with healthy eating, obesity, and access to good quality,
low-priced food.
Ms Brill: We want to link our
markets into the creative economy of the area so that they are
a starting place for young designers to reach an audience for
their goods. We have been working with local arts organisations
to find ways of regenerating and shifting people around the markets.
Chair: Thank you all very much.
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