New stalls 'not fit for job'
Nov 20 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal
MARKET traders paying increased rates after a £3m revamp say the new stalls are not fit for the job.
Stallholders at Blyth Market said they warned council chiefs the new stalls would not be robust enough, would fail to withstand even slight winds and should be fixed to the ground.
But they said their warnings were ignored and a number of stalls have already been damaged since the town’s market place reopened for business on November 7.
A market day was cancelled by Blyth Valley Council as a safety precaution because of a warning of strong wind gusts.
And traders said about a dozen stalls were damaged by wind – two of them badly – after they were put up last Thursday for Friday’s market.
The complaints over the state of the stalls follow a row over increased stall rents, which overshadowed the recent reopening of the market following its £3m upgrade. Michael Nicholson, an executive member of the National Market Traders’ Federation, said in 30 years of trading at Blyth Market he could not remember another instance of it being cancelled for anything less than a gale-force wind.
He said: “We warned that the stalls now being supplied would not be stable in moderately strong winds but were told that the council knew best.
“We said that the stalls should be fixed to the ground but no, the council knew best.
“We informed them that the stalls were not fit for purpose and would not withstand slightly windy weather.
“We were rubbished and told that experience shows that the stalls would be perfect.
“We have already lost one day’s trading to moderate winds and seen two stalls very badly damaged, and several more with lesser damage.
“Will Blyth Valley Council now listen to us, or are they intent on destroying the market?”
Bill Tarbit, the council’s head of strategic planning and economic development, said it was keen to learn from the experiences with the new market since it opened on November 7.
He said a meeting was being held to draw up a protocol for the operation of the revamped market place. He added: “Once this has been put together we are keen to discuss it with market traders.” Mr Tarbit said that the new stalls were built to withstand winds of up to 30mph and the decision by the council to cancel the market day was taken as a safety precaution.
