13 Apr 2024
Have plans for a much-heralded hybrid-style Charter Market been permanently shelved by the district council?
As reported to the Strategy and Resources Committee on March 7, the market is forecast to make a surplus of £50,000 in the current financial year.
The estimated additional income from the proposed additional market days and change in conditions for street traders has been estimated as bringing in up to £43,386.
Back in June 2022, a cross-party working group at the district council pledged to purchase 80 new stalls to replace the existing ones by that October, a proposal which resulted in a huge amount of national media coverage for the city.
The new initiatives were approved by the regeneration and business committee, and chair Cllr Robert Donald said at the time: “We will now have the best of both worlds – the reassuring sight of the return of stalls in uniform St Albans heritage colours in St Peter’s Street together with gazebos, some provided by us and others on the edge of the market by the traders themselves.”
In February 2023, after numerous delays, this plan was put on hold until the following June because of financial pressures, and then as that date came and went it seemed there was little chance of the traditional stalls ever being purchased.
But given the upturn in market fortunes, will SADC finally purchase the long-awaited new stalls this year? If not, where will the £50K surplus and income from new market days be reinvested?
A spokesperson for the council said the problem was not with the stalls, but a lack of a specialist contractor to assemble and dismantle them on market days.
“The council tendered this contract in 2022, however, the quotes were unaffordable, and due to the council’s current financial position, there is no plan to retender this work at this time. Therefore, the council will not be purchasing the stalls this year,” the spokesperson confirmed.
“This is also because the current make-up of the market is working very well, achieving the national recognition as the Best Large Outdoor Market in Britain. Trader numbers are up and Saturdays are at capacity, but the hybrid market remains the council’s long-term ambition.”
So what will happen with the surplus? Will it be reinvested into the market?
“All income generated by the council is used to reach a balanced budget,” said the spokesperson, not confirming where the money would be spent.
In December 2022, SADC purchased 35 new yellow and blue gazebos as part of a loan scheme.
Although the initial take-up was slow, all of the gazebos have now been loaned out. Two were recently returned and will shortly be loaned to new traders, but the spokesperson said the council will continue to look at these numbers and consider new new gazebos incrementally to assess and respond to demand.
This demand appears to be increasing, with SADC receiving an average of 41 applications by new traders each month during the last financial year. If one of these applications is turned down because that commodity is already being sold at the market in sufficient quantity, the applicant’s details are held for a year in case that situation changes.
Plans for the former market depot in Drovers Way have also been agreed in the short-term, after the site became empty after the sell-off of unusable traditional stalls and market tractors last year.
The spokesperson added: “A decision was taken in January last year to pause the development. Any future plans will need to align with our capital investment strategy, but developing the site is not a current area of focus. In the meantime, we have agreed terms for a local organisation to utilise the site.”
