Page 30 - MarketTimesFebruary2015
P. 30

  REPORT
Market Times • February 2015
The ups and downs of Barnsley’s
redevelopment
By NICOLA GOULD
WORK is progressing well on the £41 million regeneration of Barnsley town centre, which will create a new-look market at the heart of a reconfigured town centre.
But the traders are experiencing starkly different fortunes as the work programme, scheduled to last two to three years, moves forward.
It is boom time for some of the outdoor traders, who moved from their former location on to the precinct to allow work to start on the project. Their temporary open market comprises 40 fixed stalls along Cheapside, May Day Green, Queen Street and Peel Street.
There is talk of traders tripling their takings. Neil and Suzanne Conway, who sell bedding most of the year and Christmas goods in the run-up to Christmas, said the footfall was fantastic and the move
had given their business a new lease of life.
“There is so much more passing trade,” said Neil.
But it is a very different story for the traders who man the 200 stalls in the semi-open market hall and the market hall, which is mainly meat and fish.
Geoff Blackburn, who sells carpets in the semi-open market and is president of Barnsley branch of the NMTF, said: “Footfall is down and a lot of traders are struggling.”
Anthony Fenton, who runs the long established stall called George the Sock Man, said: “I have worked heresinceIwas15.Iamnow37 and I have never seen worse footfall.”
And John Slack, who has been selling fruit and veg in the semi-
open market for more than 50 years, said: “Trade is difficult and I had to lay off a member of staff which I haven’t had to do in 50 years.”
Anne Untisz, Barnsley town centre manager, said the council was doing everything it could to minimise disruption for the traders and they were being consulted regularly.
The outdoor traders had their say on the design of the new temporary stalls, and the traders in the two halls were given different options for the decant. But the decision to consult rather than present the traders with a fait accompli had created uncertainty, as there were no plans set in stone and no contractor had yet been appointed, she said.
On the positive side, Anne said
the redevelopment was all about placing the market at the heart of the retail centre.
“Work started last November and our priority, once we had moved the outdoor traders, was to knock down the old stalls as quickly as possible as it gave a bad impression of the market area,” she said.
“We have put up giant signs to tell people that the market is still open and we are listening to the traders and acting on their concerns.”
The redevelopment scheme will involve knocking down Central Offices, a multi-storey office block, to create a new town square. This will create an open view of the market from the bus interchange.
The retail block that currently houses Poundland will be gutted and completely refurbished, with a new glazed frontage. This will be
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Anthony Fenton who runs a sock stall on the market says he has never seen the footfall so bad









































































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