Market traders are set to be given a further three-month holiday from fees, but there’s concerns those in Spalding will eventually be hit with much higher fees than elsewhere.
As South Holland District Council passed its budget and medium term financial strategy last week, Coun Angela Newton asked if a stated aim for registered traders at Spalding Market to pay £16.90 for a stall should be taken out.
Instead she argued they should be on the same rates proposed for Holbeach, Crowland and Long Sutton markets of 50p per foot or £5 for 10ft.
“It seems bizarre that traders coming to Spalding might have to pay more than three times what they’d pay to go to our other towns,” she told the full council.
However Coun Roger Gambba-Jones said it was too early to make a decision and that the higher charges for traders were to provide revenue to go into getting more people to come to Spalding.
“At this stage it would be premature to talk about equalising the charges,” he said.
“We made it very clear that one of the key objectives was to encourage footfall in Spalding town centre and the market is pivotal to that.
“In order to do that there was a need to ensure there was revenue and the ability to do that by encouraging people to come to the town centre and lay on events.
“You can’t do that without generating revenue. You don’t do that for free. There’s no hiding that fact. It needs to be part of the overall discussion of the town centre improvement plan.
“It’s being made quite clear that the free period is to be extended.
“I made the statement at the time that we didn’t want to be pinned into a corner by being told that we needed to equalise all the charges.
“We asked for time for it to be considered and to be discussed in the round.
“That decision on those charges can be reconsidered.
“Deciding to equalise the fees now makes it very difficult to find any of those funds required to encourage people to come back by laying on events and improving the events in the town centre.”
Coun Peter Coupland, the district council’s portfolio holder for finance, told Coun Newton: “We are looking to extend for a further three months of not charging any of the markets and in that time we’re going to revise and review all the charges. What I will make sure is that you’re part of that process.”
Market fees have been suspended since the market returned in June.
