A DECISION will be made today about the future of Ashbourne’s Thursday market.
In a draft report to Derbyshire Dales District Council’s overview and scrutiny committee, officers recommend closing the weekday market in the town.
Average income to the council from the under-threat Thursday market is just £296, a figure which is expected to increase if the market is closed and Market Place used for car parking instead.
Committee members will meet at 6pm to consider the report and decide whether to support the recommendations which will then go to the partnership and regeneration committee for further discussion on Thursday, February 23.
The report is part of a review which began in January last year in a bid to increase the efficiency of markets in the district by 20 per cent, identify savings and consider the viability of each market in the towns of Ashbourne, Bakewell, Matlock and Wirksworth.
Despite markets in all the towns except Bakewell struggling financially, Ashbourne’s Thursday market is the only one recommended for closure.
A team of councillors and council officers have conducted site visits, met with market supervisors, held consultations with traders, members of the public and town councils as part of the review.
The team looked at stall licence conditions, the occupation and use of stalls, casual traders, absence due to illness, allocation of stalls, the stall duplication guide; the marketing, promotion and communication with traders, payment methods, fees and charges, concessions, parking, operational costs at the individual sites, and the financial viability of each market to ensure a comprehensive review of the markets.
A spokesman for the council said: “This doesn’t mean it is cut and dried. The overview and scrutiny committee will be confirming what they would like to see happen on the back of the consultation that they have done.
“There is still time for people to make their feelings known, there is another month before there will be further talks.
“The overview and scrutiny committee are always reviewing what we are doing and trying to improve it.
“If the partnership and regeneration committee decides to go with the overview and scrutiny committee's recommendations it would have to first organise another round of public consultation. So there will not be a final decision on February 23.” Recommendations were also made to discontinue an unofficial market held at Matlock on Saturdays.
