Joy as market wins £1.4m makeover deal

Jul 11 2008 by Ben Schofield, Liverpool Daily Post

STALLHOLDERS at a historic Merseyside market were celebrating last night after securing a £1.4m rescue package.

Southport indoor market was haemorrhaging traders and had fallen into disrepair.

But a campaign spearheaded by the traders and backed up by an 8,000-signature petition has convinced Sefton Council to invest in the 127-year-old market.

Wendy Miller, who has run the Sweet Memories stall for 10 years, and is a spokesperson for the stallholders, said: “We’re keeping it where it should be.

“It’s so wonderful that the market is staying a market and being refurbished. It’ll be brilliant. We collected over 8,000 signatures because locals were really concerned about us leaving here.”

There was speculation the market could be moved to the former Waitrose site, on Tulketh Street. And yesterday Sefton’s cabinet turned down an alternative plan to relocate to Cambridge Walks.

But now detailed refurbishment and marketing plans will be drawn up to map out the future of the market’s current home – a hall on King Street, which was built in 1931.

Cllr John Fairclough, Sefton’s cabinet member for technical services, said he was considering removing the hall’s suspended ceiling to let in more natural light and demolishing the outdoor public toilets to make a larger service yard.

Plans could also include repainting the exterior and erecting new stalls.

He told the Daily Post: “We will brighten it up, let the natural light in, and make sure it looks nice on the outside.”

He said the next step was to consult with stall-holders about how they wanted the refurbishment to go ahead.

The market hall was put up for sale last year, but negotiations with Anglo-French firm Geraud, who also run Liverpool’s St John’s indoor market, fell through in October. Rumours of its closure have circulated in the town ever since, and traders abandoned pitches, leaving a quarter of the stalls vacant.

Councillors now say Sefton is committed to keeping ownership of the hall for the foreseeable future.

Cllr Brenda Porter, an Ainsdale representative and a champion of the market hall, said: “I think this is a success story for all those stallholders who stuck with it and all the people who signed the petition. This has got to be properly marketed, has got to be part of Southport’s tourism, and has got to have good management.”

But she criticised Sefton Council for neglecting the market.

She added: “Virtually nothing’s been put into the market so in all fairness they are well over due for having something done.

“The loss of footfall. I think. has been brought on by the council itself by not doing any work on it and not really marketing it at all.”

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