Wolverhampton market could be on the move
Tuesday 25th May 2010, 11:30AM BST.
Wolverhampton’s struggling outdoor market could be moved back to its original home of St Peter’s Square under plans revealed today to boost trade.
A feasibility study is being carried out on the possibility of setting up 40 stalls on the piazza following a consultation with traders.
Council chiefs are looking into the plans, despite the need for a structural study on the site due to the Civic Centre car park underneath.
The proposal has thrown the market’s proposed move to Dudley Street into doubt.While the piazza plans are being explored, the council today also revealed “trial markets” would be set up on Wednesdays in Queen Square throughout July and August.
Wolverhampton’s market was based near to St Peter’s Church since the 1800s before moving to its current location in Market Square in the 1960s.
A council report detailing the new plans states: “Traders proposed the creation of a new open market on the piazza as an alternative to Dudley Street.
“An indicative layout of a market has confirmed that 40 stalls could be located on the piazza and 20 stalls in Cheapside.
“It is also proposed to trial a limited street market in Queen Square and the top of Victoria Street to test the response from shoppers. This will be delivered at no cost to council by the company that operates farmers’ markets for the council.”
The report stated that Dudley Street retailers had demanded that the council prove that an open market would not “detrimentally impact” their business or deter existing customers from their stores.
A more detailed report about the future of the markets is due in July.
Plans have already been approved to boost market traders’ business with “incentive packages” over the next year, reducing rates for traders who take on extra, vacant stalls.
The number of farmers’ markets in Dudley Street will also double to twice each month.
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Good news for the stall holders maybe? However, as I work a typical 9-5 job and commute to and from bham daily, I never get to use the market as the hours arent suitable for me. I’ve been on a Saturday in the afternoon only to see most of the traders shutting up. Unless they change their hours to make it more suitable for all, I honestly cant see the markets lasting no matter where they are placed.
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other than a few fruit and veg stalls its mostly rubbish anyway,
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that magic moment has left wton market ages ago i remember i had to queue for hours to get on and even then there was loads of casuals before the market was refurbished years ago,look at the market now its depressing and empty just look what happened to brownhills market
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it sounds like a great idea but we need to attract some other stallholders aswell cause at the mo all we have is fruit and veg and clothing.what about computer stall,toy stall,general household stall etc,etc.
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Best news to date, It was always a thriving market in front of St Peters Church.
It is central, and better for all, especially
for the elderly and the infirm.
The opportunity is there to have a market to rival any, situated on the Piazza, Cheapside,
and Queen Square.
I hope this is agreed upon, Best wishes to the stallholders and the council.
John.
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Good news for the market traders and I hope It all goes well for them.They need to make a decent living the same as the rest of us. But to be honest,from a consumers point of view, the markets today are no cheaper than the shops and If you buy anything which later turns out to be faulty, you can sometimes never find them to return the goods.
The current market is both dreary and un-inspiring to visit. The few stall that there are seem lost in such a huge area, so that there is little of the ‘old market atmosphere’ I remember of old.Lets see what the future brings. Good luck guys.
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Too little too late Wolverhampton !!
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Bad luck for the indoor market if the outdoor one goes. Fair do’s though, more buses are going that way than used to because of the bus-station disruption.
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Some of us said, when the market was moved, that it would kill the (then) town centre. It did. In particular the move of the market killed of Lichfield Street and ironically the Coop Department Store…. out of the same stable as the perpetrators. It almost deprived Wolverhampton of its remaining live theatre. Box office takings dropped dramatically.
It was said the site would prove disastrous for the market itself. It has. The move also deprived Wolverhampton of its City Centre circus and fair ground.
It is indeed to little too late but the move back to its home is a very necessary move. The indoor market should also be moved back there. It could occupy the ground floor of the bunker (oops..Civic Centre). There is plenty of vacant office space available to accomodate the Local Government Officers thus displaced… although presumably in this atmosphere of cuts there will only be sufficient staff left to half occupy the bunker.
The lesson to be learned is one the designers of the “New” Summer Row should be attending to. Move the Centre too far from the Station and court disaster. The Station was always too far from the Centre. New Summer Row is too. Indeed Cleveland Street was originally constructed as a by-pass for the City Centre… It was the original ring road.
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Good comments PJW, agree completely, the indoor market needs to move with the outdoor market, especially as most are butchers etc.
My thoughts are initially good with regards this, anything to re-establish the market as a means for low earning families to have cheap access to local and seasonal fruit and veg etc – break the supermarket hold on everyone.
I also suspect this has been announced so that the site could be sold on – Tesco perhaps, as Sainsburys get Raglan Street? – Now there’s a theory
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It all comes full circle doesn’t it? a pity the old market hall went, with it’s hugely slabbed floor and vaulted cast iron supports for a high roof which dissipated all the food aromas, unlike the current building!
It does need more variety though – a Petticoat Lane style market with vintage clothes, books, antiques and good secondhand what nots, hot food and drink should bring the buyers in from other towns; but only if the parking is increased and is cheaper.
Wolverhampton needs more trees, less drunks and beggars and some street entertainment – it’s ruined it’s architecture at eye level over the years, so let’s have something to distract from the ugly 60′s and 70′s frontages we’ve been left with.
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The old Market was the only building, apart from the Crystal Palace, to use a particular type of construction. The supporting columns were hollow and acted as drainpipes… I understand.
I believe it was demolished as the only solution to the rat problem. The rats were as big as cats and when the market hall was finally demolished they spread to other buildings …. I know because I used to work in one of those buildings and if you want to know horror then switch on the lights in a pitch dark room to find you are surrounded by rats!
I agree with the need for decent eye level architecture. I suggest the Mander Centre’s concrete facade should be demolished and replace with a frontage that emulates the old Arcade buildings that used to front Queen Square/Victoria Street.
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