Petition to reinstate TikTok star Spudman's patch debated by councillors

However plans for the St Editha’s Square flowerbed were scrapped following a petition signed by more than 100,000 people. Since then, the flowerbed has been scrapped and instead a concrete bench has been erected.

This caused a new petition, signed by more than 25,000, urging the council to restore the original pitch. The petition claimed that ‘distress and resentment’ has been caused by changing the flowerbed to the concrete bench and called on the council to uphold its previous commitment.

The petition was presented to the first full council meeting since the traders returned to the square following the completion of future high street improvement works. Since then, Spudman has been trading from a new spot on the square.

Responding to the petition, Councillor Nova Arkney, cabinet member for infrastructure and local economy said: “It’s important that we deal with this issue truthfully and fairly and despite what the petition may suggest Mr Newman doesn’t have and never has had a dedicated or exclusive pitch on St Editha’s Square. The freehold of St Editha’s Square is owned entirely by the council, a search of council records finds no evidence that Mr Newman owns any form of ownership or formal interest in the square.

“A further check with the land registry confirmed that no such interest was registered to him. In addition, a review of both current and historic council policy shows we have never granted permanent or transferable rights to trade from a specific location within the square.”

During the meeting it was said that the council did take action and changed the design on the square and a transport consultant undertook tracking to ensure that the trailer would fit on the square. To improve communication with traders, regular meetings have also been established to have a better relationship with the town’s market traders.

The cabinet member added: “It’s also only fair to acknowledge that for Mr Newman there has been a significant investment of officer time and support to help him with various issues and challenges, as well as proactively supporting him with his queries and events so we can ensure their success and the safety of the public. This is not a case of a trader being unfairly treated, it is a case of someone being supported extensively and being asked, quite reasonably, to follow the same rules as everybody else.

“I, of course, respect the right of any member to bring forward issues on behalf of the public, but in this case it is kind of pointless. As the changes asked for have already been made and the councillor bringing this debate was involved in the meetings where those decisions were taken.”

Council Leader, Councillor Carol Dean claimed that one of the reasons Spudman can’t return to his original pitch is because he also utilises his van on the square. She claimed that a new policy set to come before the council soon would prohibit traders keeping their vehicles on the square unless they had a reason to do so.

She said: “Our question is why hasn’t Mr Newman taken up the original space he fought so hard to defend on social media and we understand this is because he is also choosing to keep his towing vehicle next to the trailer on the square. Whereas the original designs deal with the spatial assessments of only the trailer in the square during trading hours.

“The adopted street trading policy and draft market policy which will soon be coming through council for approval only allows traders on the square to use their towing vehicles or vans to load and unload, with traders having to remove them before trading can begin.”