How about a covered open-air town centre?
IT would again appear that Harborough District Council has ‘wisely’ spent rate-payers’ money by hiring a team of regeneration ‘experts’ to tell them something they had already decided! (See Harborough Mails before Christmas).
Whilst I do accept to some degree that the current market is under-used, I can only see degeneration if it is moved to the location being suggested.
Also, what happened to the pride that Market Harborough had in its independent retailers, isn’t that what the market traders are?
I have lived in this area all my life and have seen the covered market reduced by ‘progress’ before, notably when the new hall was built and Sainsbury’s ‘stole’ the cattle market area, sending this to the newly-named “Market Foxton”!
An open air market, especially in the location spoken of, whilst sounding quaint and somewhat romantic, is in reality a step backwards.
If you look at the successful shopping areas of the country it shows these are in covered areas – Meadowhall in Sheffield, Highcross in Leicester and Milton Keynes (admittedly this had an open air market tagged on – but not much trade there when it’s raining!).
Why cannot HDC be more forward-thinking? How about a covered open-air town centre along the lines of the O2 arena? People are no longer willing to put up with getting wet whilst shopping, so why not make this an area of attraction?
I’m sure the local traders and townspeople would look on this as an improvement to the shopping experience – and would still enable the market to be visible in the main shopping area rather than sordidly hidden away in some back alley.
This would have the added advantage of protection for the farmers markets too, not forgetting any other attractions that could be drawn in by this!
As it is, the local councillors surely don’t have the good of the area at heart, they’re simply managing a business. In my opinion this isn’t what they were elected for.
As a footnote to this, there was a recent remark in the letters page about the ownership of this town and district, sorry HDC, you don’t really own the area, you are (or should be) more its guardians for posterity!
Richard Nichols,
Thackney Leys.
Kibworth Harcourt.
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Friday 18 May 2012
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