Traders will have to continue to erect stalls

Market traders in Spalding will have to continue to provide and erect their own stalls after councillors revisited the topic on Monday.

Members of South Holland District Council’s cabinet discussed the issue after the original decision to no longer put up the stalls was sent back to the cabinet last week by the scrutiny committee.

The Performance Monitoring Panel called-in the earlier decision of the cabinet which would see the end of council staff setting up stalls for traders.

The step had been taken as part of the council’s coronavirus safety moves.

The council said there was too much potential risk in having staff erect the stalls and trying to maintain social distance.

Coun Angela Newton told the panel that a number of traders had not been consulted with about the change.

Her proposal to refer the decision back to the cabinet for further consideration was agreed and the cabinet met again on Monday.

“We had to put in place what we felt was best to achieve a market,” Coun Roger Gambba-Jones told cabinet members.

“If we had delayed, we would have no market,” he added.

Coun Gambba-Jones, portfolio holder for place, added that every tax payer in the district contributed to the staff bill for erecting stalls on Tuesdays and Saturdays in Spalding which ‘is not fair.’

He also said the call-in had a political agenda and was a case of ‘getting one over on the cabinet.’

“There is no question of us turning our backs on traders,” he said.

Council leader Lord Porter said: “The council is committed to do as much as it reasonably can for the market.”

But he added that he and the chief executive would ‘cop for it if something goes wrong’ in terms of safety and coronavirus.

The cabinet ratified its original decision to no longer erect stalls for Spalding market traders

Whether this is temporary or permanent will be discussed at a full council meeting scheduled to take place later this month.