More than 1,700 sign petition against Cambridge market square plans

More than 1,700 people have signed a petition demanding that the city council scraps its plan to remove two thirds of the permanent stalls on Cambridge market to make way for events.

Cambridge’s market traders have made a paper petition available to shoppers at their stalls, which has garnered 930 signatures from local residents and another 700 from visitors who live outside the city. An online petition has been signed by a further 100 people.

The stallholders are hoping Cambridge City Council will recognise the strength of feeling from shoppers and residents against sweeping changes proposed for the market under its ‘civic quarter’ plans.

Glenys Self, who runs a jewellery stall on the market, presented the petition to city council Labour leader Mike Davey on Monday (3 February).

She said: “When shoppers hear that the number of permanent stalls on the market will be reduced so drastically under the civic quarter plans and that the rest will be made up of gazebos, they are shocked. And after the shock comes anger. Like the traders, customers have a sense of a less stable market future. They don’t understand why the market has to make way for events when there are so many other spaces that could be used for entertainment in the city, like Parker's Piece or Midsummer Common.

“We know that the city council will only take notice of petition signatures from people who live in the city but the market is used by many more people from nearby villages as it is still their nearest market. Why can't they have a say too?”

Under the civic quarter proposals, which also includes plans to improve the Guildhall and the Corn Exchange, the council envisages the number of permanent stalls reducing to 27. They would sit beneath a lightweight canopy, while 64 demountable stalls would provide “additional trading” space at weekends and during busier months. The whole market project is expected to cost £12.6million, but to date the council has only proposed to invest £3m on resurfacing the cobbles to improve accessibility.

Glenys added: “The council has chosen to have 27 permanent stalls because that is the number of traders we have on our least busy days - Monday and Tuesday. But all the stalls are full on Thursday to Sunday, which is presumably when the council will also want to run their events.

“We have asked for at least 54 permanent stalls on the petition because that is the number of stalls used by our five-day-a-week traders. Many bigger businesses use at least two stalls and some use three for their produce and could not trade from the single stalls that have been proposed to go under the canopy.

“These businesses, some going back generations, make Cambridge market the successful, unique, well-loved market that it now is. Without more permanent stalls on our market we think the whole market is vulnerable to wither away, given how fragile and vulnerable markets are. We have tired to communicate our concerns to the civic quarter project but are struggling to get our needs understood on these crucial, fundamental points.

Phil Graves, who sells fresh flowers, said: “I have two stalls together because there would not be enough room to display my flowers on a single pitch. If they reduced me to one, I couldn't actually make money and I would simply leave the market and retire - and lots of people would probably do the same. Most of the regular businesses need more than one stall.”

Traders also have raised concerns about the suitability of gazebo-style stalls to withstand weather conditions on the market and have asked who will be expected to erect the stalls and take them down and how 64 stalls could be dismantled and re-erected on nights when the square was used for entertainment without impacting opening hours.

The council published a ‘frequently asked questions’ report, which explained: “Our ambition is to create a flexible civic space in front of the Guildhall, which we think can be achieved by providing 27 ‘permanent’ stalls, under a new lightweight canopy which is proposed to cover approximately half of the market, providing storage for permanent traders and offering covered seating for the general public. These permanent stalls would be in use from Monday to Sunday, every week. Outside of the canopied area would be a further 64 ‘demountable’ stalls that can contract or expand in accordance with demand, meaning that this half of the market square would be available for additional trading during busier days and months, or to provide flexible space for occasional events.”

Bill Proud, secretary of the Cambridge Market Traders’ Association, said: “We are worried that the gazebo-style stalls won’t have safe access to electricity, which people will need for lighting and if they are running a hot food business they may need a hot plate. Nothing is clear about how the electricity supply to the stalls will work given the cobbles they will stand on are grade II-listed. What does that mean in terms of looking for electrical outlets? How will they be fitted unless they are swung overhead, which sounds even worse?

“I’m concerned that the council will spend a lot of money on just doing the basic groundwork, especially when they find out the market square isn’t flat but on a gradient. They'll run out of money. It'll be a halfway house. They'll never actually complete it.

“And, of course, they may not have enough money to employ the people needed to put the gazebo stalls up and down. What will happen then? The market doesn’t work with just 27 permanent stalls.”

Cllr Davey (Lab, Petersfield) said: “There is an ongoing engagement with the market stallholders. This will then be opened out to consult the public in May, so the public will be able to have their view then in addition to the market stall traders. That will be incorporated into any future proposals which are likely to come back to planning (committee) in May.

He explained that the figure of 27 stalls was chosen “based on analysis of the current numbers of traders that are in the market through the week”, adding: “But that's not to say that's a definitive number, and they obviously could be more or less, depending upon a range of issues.”

When asked whether the number of permanent stalls could increase to 54, he answered: “Who knows?”

And he said that would be part of discussions over the next three months.

Cllr Davey confirmed that all the demountable stalls would have access to electricity.

In response to the traders’ petition, he said: “Thank you very much, and we'll consider it with all the rest of the other things that we have to incorporate and consider. So what I can say is we're grateful for having that voice and delighted that they put it in. There's so many other things we have to consider that the general public might want, as well as the stallholders. But obviously the stallholders are a really key part of the process, so the more they're engaged, the more they're able to give their voice, and the more we listen, the better”

When asked whether the council could guarantee there will be enough manpower to erect and dismantle the demountable stalls, Cllr Davey said: “At the moment, it would be pointless me actually saying anything other than maybe. I don't know. And we'll obviously look at the proposals, and clearly we have a duty and responsibility to the stallholders to provide as best we can, but it obviously depends upon how many stores there are, and what the arrangements are and what the physical requirements are.”

A Cambridge City Council spokesperson said: “We are developing a list of possible stall types that we will share with traders to establish a shortlist. We will then organise opportunities for them to view the shortlisted stalls.”

A digital version of the petition is available to sign at https://shorturl.at/I219M