Traders believe that switching the market from its current site at the car park in St Albans Road to the Spires’ Stapylton Road entrance will lead to increased visibility and footfall from shoppers.
Friends of Barnet Market support the switch so long as certain conditions are met, and hope greater prominence for the market will help reverse the decline of recent years.
Business has gone quiet in recent months...
Discussions have been taking place between Hunter Asset Management and Barnet Council, and if the bandstand could become the designated area for the market, the transfer from the car park should have been completed in time for the start of the Barnet teenage market on Easter Saturday next year.
Two conditions have been suggested by Friends of Barnet Market
- The new site should have the same planning protection as the original St Albans Road site and the new market area should be restricted to market and entertainment use.
- There should be a reasonable level of rents for the existing market traders, plus provision of electric power and other facilities.
“This is wonderful news,” said Tyler Bone, who runs the family’s fruit and vegetable stall. “We have been asking for months for the market to be moved to the bandstand.
A permanent site like that, in a high visibility position right outside the Spires, could really extend the life of the market.”
Equally supportive is Lenny’s meat stall which wished the move had taken place a couple of years ago.
The meat stall opened when the market was temporarily beside the bandstand while the original market site was being converted into a car park.
Adrian Wright, a Lowestoft fishmonger, who drives his van to Barnet every Saturday, thought the switch in sites could not come soon enough.
“Business has gone quiet in recent months, and it started going down after one of the three fruit and vegetable stalls closed down. Let’s hope the Spires and the Council get a move on and get us by the bandstand as quickly as possible.”
