St Albans Green councillors have always backed our market and market traders, including supporting street traders against changes to their fees and contracts brought in by the Council last year.
The Council’s handling of the so-called micro markets has been a debacle from start to finish. Now, to add insult to injury, the Council is proposing ignoring the promise of a 12 month trial, and making the new situation permanent. The new arrangement has only been up and running for 6 months, due to delays, and has raised hardly any extra money. Yet it has caused huge upset and worry for former street traders, and led to some of them giving up their business.
The Council report coming to committee acknowledges that take up has been slow – in fact on most days there are only 3 or 4 traders at these micro markets. The report also acknowledges the new markets are “unlikely to have any measurable impact on footfall or generate any measurable change in the city centre”.
There has been no consultation and the views of street traders who have been forced to pay astronomically increased fees have been completely ignored.
Green councillor Simon Grover, who represents the city centre, said, “I’m sorry to say that this seems to be yet another example of the Council shunning consultation and ploughing ahead with bad plans just to save a few pounds. You would think after all the controversy this Council has caused for the market over the last few years that they would leave well alone. But no, they seem determined to cause more damage, and upset more traders, while bringing no benefit to residents who use the markets.”