Evening market plan for Dudley to rejuvenate town centre
Specialist evening markets bringing visitors into the heart of Dudley will be held under plans to rejuvenate the town centre.
It is the latest idea being considered by council chiefs as they look to attract more people to the town and boost trade. The idea is inspired by the success of a similar night market held in Walsall town centre.
Live music and activities may also be run at the same time as the market.
Dudley deputy council leader and regeneration boss, Councillor Shaukat Ali, was today keen to stress the move would complement the existing market. Plans for a new Sunday market are in the pipeline.
Exact details on opening times and types of stalls are still being discussed by Dudley’s new Town Team but it is thought that more specialist goods, such as freshly cooked foods, crafts and gifts, would be sold and the stalls themed differently from the traditional daily market.
Councillor Ali said the historic market would remain under council management but added: “However, as part of the wider regeneration plans for the town, we are considering options to host specialist markets in the market place on Sundays and evenings, this includes speaking to market operators about the feasibility of working together to deliver more variety on the market at these times.
“It is hoped this will maximise the market’s potential and encourage more people from the borough and beyond to visit Dudley, increasing footfall and benefiting traders and retailers in the town.
“We want to make sure whatever we do complements Dudley’s existing market which, located in the heart of the town centre, remains popular with shoppers.”
The council is working with the Town Team on how to spend to spend the town’s £100,000 share from the Government’s £10 million High Street Innovation fund inspired by retail guru Mary Portas.
Group members will create a masterplan to refurbish neglected shops and attract new businesses.
Other ideas include setting up a tourist information hub in the town centre and encouraging the use of empty shops for community projects.
There will also be a greater focus on tourism and linking the High Street with existing attractions, such as Dudley Zoo and Dudley Museum and Art Gallery.
Dudley lost out on the chance to become a Portas Pilot town receiving a package of support but was successful with a bid to the High Street Innovation fund instead.
The council is also working on separate plans for a £6million revamp of the market place to create new stalls with canopies and remove the ageing toilet block to create a view of the town’s castle.
Comments for: "Evening market plan for Dudley to rejuvenate town centre"
Paul
Are Dudley Council having a laugh? Night markets? Dudley is so run down, no one wants to go there in daylight, why would anyone want to go there at NIGHT? Will they still have to pay to park?
Opening a "tourist information hub"? This is the same council that closed the much loved tourist information shop a few years back because it cost too much money!
Johnnyboy
A tourist information hub? And exactly how is that going to bring new business to the town? Market sounds a great idea though as long as its not like the day market selling smoking paraphernalia, second hand computer games and dodgy clothes!
snowy
So you would like the man who sells smoking paraphernalia to lose his livelihood because I assume You don't smoke. I am a non smoker
Adam
We need to do something to re-invigorate our town centres across the country. It's terrible that our evening economies consist solely of filthy kebab shops and pubs: Why do most of the shops close at 5pm? if they stayed open longer people who are at work all day would be able to visit town centres in the evening, rather than rushing around at the weekend. I really do believe that if town centres were better lit and more populated at night they would appear to be less intimidating places and crime would fall. I appreciate that the weather is against us in the UK and that between October and April when it's cold and dark, most people finish work and want to get home where it's warm and cosy but maybe, just maybe we can kick-start a cultural change?
snoddy
Not for me until they lift the parking charges
Steve Dudley
Its a step in the right direction but how is this going to attract young people back to the Town ?
There seems to much emphasis on the market rather than actually cleaning up the town and get some brand names in the centre, that bring back people...
Will Dudley Council make people to pay to park when they visit these evening Markets or do they expect people to get there using the overpriced, poor quality and reduced evening bus services?
Lets face facts here, if people want to shop on a evening they will go to Merry Hill where the parking is free and there are shops (one's that are open - not boarded up like an eyesore). Why are the shops all boarded up in Dudley because Dudley Council's inability to stop the rot in the early 90s when all the brand name shops flocked to Merry Hill because of reduced rates...it's no good trying to reverse it 20 odd years later with a load of charity shops, pawn brokers and pound shops.
Dudley as a Market Town is doomed....I don't want it to happen and I don't think anyone else born and bred in Dudley wants to see it happen but I think it's too late to stop the rot.
Can't believe some of the negativity on here with regards to this. Is it a cure-all? No. But it is a step in the right direction. To read some of these comments we should all just give up on the town and leave it to die, perhaps the town would already be pulling itself out of the mire were it not for the clouds of negativity which greet everything to do with it. The town has so much potential yet has been badly mismanaged for decades. If there is something coming into the town worth going to it should be greeted with open arms rather than clinging desperately to the problems people are trying to get away from.
Dave the Sweep
Its a start, cant understand the negativity. Its working in Walsall so why not Dudley?
People should give it a go instead of sitting behind their keyboards internet shopping.