The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Traders have continued to express their disappointment at new measures brought in after markets returned to South Holland towns.
The Voice reported last week that their were mixed views from Spalding traders with many glad to be back.
But concerns were also raised that traders now had to book in every time online rather than pay a direct debit and show up.
South Holland District Council is providing free stalls for June and July, but traders will have to pay online thereafter.
The authority says it has also ‘suspended’ stall provision due to “COVID restrictions and the risk of multiple touch points involved in erecting the stalls on traders’ behalves.”
Tony Schofield of Tony’s Bygones said that after 21 years he was considering not returning to Spalding as result.
Craig Lyons who runs a spice stall on the market responded to the article saying he was concerned others would be driven away.
He said: “We are trying our best to stand together and fight this.
“One of the main issues is that they have asked us to let them know 48 hours before if we are standing, if not we have no pitch.
“This is unheard of in markets. We all lead busy working lives. If we forget we are not allowed to stand.
“We certainly will not be liking it and lumping it. We will just leave and go elsewhere, which it makes you think is what they want.”
Other traders were left disappointed due to stalls no longer being provided and set up for them.
Fi Taylor, who usually has a stand on a Saturday selling a host of items, estimated it would cost her close to £2,000 to buy what she normally has to set up a stall.
She told The Voice she hadn’t been contacted by the council until last week.
“I’m just really disappointed with how it’s been handled,” she said.
“Affording gazebos and tables is expensive and pretty stressful, especially when you haven’t been earning.
“Due to health reasons I only do a Saturday on Spalding market so it’s a lot of money to fork out for one market, I am dreading what the final figure will be.”
A district council spokesman said: “With the necessary and agreed changes to the market layout, to allow for social distancing and safe trade, it is important that we know which and how many traders will be attending each week.
“The new booking system allows us to get this information and ensure that the layout is the safest it can be for the number of traders attending each week.
“All our regular traders were contacted in May to check how they were, their current situations, when they were hoping to return and what changes may need to be made to the markets for safety.
“Subsequent calls were made in early and mid-June about the return and changes, with almost all traders agreeing that changes would be necessary for the safe return of markets to take place.
Coun Roger Gambba-Jones, portfolio holder for place, said: “It was great to see most of our markets in the district back up and running again last week.
“With traders and shoppers returning and adapting well to the new layout and guidelines that have been necessary due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“We’ve had some really positive feedback about the effectiveness of these changes, but do appreciate that this is a difficult time as we all try to get used to a this new way of working, shopping and socialising in public spaces.
“If anyone has any concerns or has views they would like to share
“I would ask them to contact us so that our team can look to address them as we continue to help our markets return to their communities.”
