Stourbridge needs a market
The decision making process that threatens to leave Stourbridge residents without a market needs to be improved.
For too long the wishes of residents have been ignored. Consultations have been with Stourbridge board of trade and whilst the views of traders are important, they are not the only stakeholder in the future of our town centre.
On Saturday October 18th I surveyed the views of more than fifty shoppers, selected at random, on the High Street. I wanted to get a range of views rather than just campaign on my own desires for the town. The response was emphatic. 41 people I spoke to wanted to see the town centre pedestrianised on a Saturday, eight did not and 5 felt it would make no difference to their enjoyment of the town.
The Farmers Market was in full swing the day I did my consultation. And, quite apart from the opinion in favour of pedestrianisation, the strength of feeling in support of the farmers market was enormous. Everybody wanted it to stay and there is something wrong with a decision making system that does not take account of this strength of public opinion.
I have heard about the strength of feeling among traders that, it is alleged, runs contrary to the public view. The recent survey of traders does not in fact reflect strong negative views to the pedestrianisation of the town on Saturday mornings. 256 survey forms were sent out to traders in September of this year. 83 responses were received. Of the third of traders to respond only 55% were against pedestrianisation. Just over half of one third of a sample is not an emphatic response by any standards of market research.
I call on the council to ensure the continuation of the Farmer’s Market in Stourbridge. Evidence from nearby towns such as Kidderminster and Worcester shows that a market is good for town centre regeneration. If markets contribute to the total retail economy in those towns why should this not be the case in Stourbridge? We should be aiming for a permanent market in Stourbridge, not backpedalling away from the fortnightly one we have currently.
The options left open to the town for a market, whilst the Crown Centre re-development gets underway, are in the pedestrianised area in the Ryemarket where there would be room for 40 stalls and the Lower High Street. There was a consultation about the use of parking bays down one side of the Lower High Street earlier in the year. That should not preclude us from re-visiting that option although the Ryemarket option is preferable and money should be found to enable this option to proceed from January next year.
Photo: Margot with Cllr Liz Walker at the Harvest Festival Market
