Page 38 - MarketTimesApril2013
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  Milton Keynes market saved after mammoth battle
 MARKET traders in Milton Keynes are celebrating victory in a David and Goliath battle after developers withdrew plans for a £40 million redevelopment, which would have seen the busy market moved to make way for a Primark store.
The battle galvanised support for the market — and Milton Keynes Council is now looking at ways to improve what it now appreciates is a major asset.
Milton Keynes market has developed over 30 years into a flourishing enterprise with more than 200 stalls in the Market Square in the town’s retail heart.
The proposal by the developer was to move the market to a nearby location, which traders said was tucked away with poor visibility from the main shopping area, and which was too small to accommodate them all.
The developer also planned to knock down the Secklow Gate Bridge and build a £40 million development, with a massive Primark store at its heart where the market now stands.
Traders immediately realised that the market could not survive in the new location and they fought desperately to persuade the council to reject the two separate applications, the first to move the market, and the second to build the new development.
Fortunately Xplain, a local campaign group that promotes the heritage of Milton Keynes, was equally appalled at the proposals
and together they proved a formidable force.
Linda Inoki, who heads the Xplain, said: “Like so many local people, we are extremely proud of Milton Keynes’ unique heritage, with its famous grid roads. Knocking down Secklow Gate Bridge and moving the market from its key location would have destroyed the heart of the town we love so much.”
The battle to save the market took many twists and turns and at times it looked doomed, as Linda explains.
The council’s Economic Development team wrote a report that supported the proposals. Their argument was that Milton Keynes was slipping down the retail rankings and Primark would bring new jobs and increased footfall, cementing the town’s position as a shopping hub in the south east midlands.
The traders argued that their market jobs would disappear because the market would not be viable in the proposed location — but their voices seemed to be falling on deaf ears.
A turning point for the traders came when they joined forced with Xplain and formed an emergency committee to fight the proposals.
They contacted the Labour prospective candidate, Emily Darlington, who gave the traders her full support. She said she was “shocked and appalled” that the council had not consulted them on plans that would have a massive
Pictured, from left to right, are Elizabeth Hobbs of Hobbs Crazy Books, who has traded in MK market for 20 years, Mark Lancaster MP, and Christine Smith, of Bargain Supplements.
Photograph: Caroline Brown
NEWS
Market Times • April 2013
38
impact on their livelihoods.
She said the council should investigate alternative sites for the
new development.
The Tory MP Mark Lancaster also
gave his support to the traders’ campaign and approached the council’s CEO about the issue.
Linda said: “After that, I approached the council and they told me they had appointed an independent market expert to produce a report on the options for Milton Keynes market.”
The report by market specialists Quarterbridge confirmed the traders’ views that the proposed location was not suitable.
Meanwhile, the traders set about gathering signatures from people wanting to keep the market in its current location.
In just three weeks they collected more than 20,000 signatures, the
largest petition in Milton Keynes history.
Finally, the tide seemed to be turning. Just before the key planning meeting the traders and Xplain got the news they had been longing to hear.
Linda said: “Initially we heard that the planning application to move the market had been withdrawn. We were then concerned because the developer seemed to be going ahead and seeking planning permission for the demolition and redevelopment, with no mention of the market.”
At the eleventh hour the developers withdrew the application for planning permission for the redevelopment, and now the traders and Xplain are turning their attention to the need to invest in the market and develop it as a cherished asset of the town.
 Photograph: Anne-Louise Mellor

































































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