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Future of popular Sunday market threatened
BATTLE lines are being drawn over the future of a popular market in Marylebone credited with helping to transform the area from a ghost town to one of the most fashionable post codes in London.
The site of the Sunday farmers’ market in Moxon Street car park, a stone’s throw from bustling Marylebone High Street, has been earmarked for development, sparking a frenetic campaign from traders, residents and local businesses to save the market.
With an average of 30 stalls selling everything from pheasants to asparagus, oysters to artichokes, the market has been a boon for business on Sundays since it started in 2003, pulling in punters from miles around.
But under a draft planning brief put out for consultation by Westminster Council, the market may have to move from its home for the past five years to make way for a flagship adult education centre. Proposals are also being floated to use the 100-berth car park to meet the burgeoning demand for more affordable housing.
Campaigners say there are no suitable alternative locations. They are calling on planning chiefs to work out a compromise, with a mixed-use site that can still find space for the market on Sundays touted as the solution.
Cheryl Cohen, director of London Farmers’ Markets, which manages the site, said: “I think it’s fair to say the market is one of the reasons why the area has experienced such a renaissance.
“A lot of that is due to where it is, just by the High Street. Before, it was dead on Sundays and none of the shops used to open. Now that’s completely changed. Now people come, wander around the market, go for a coffee, get some lunch, that kind of thing. It’s like a family day out. If we had to move to Baker Street or above the Marylebone Road it wouldn’t be the same. For many people the market is the anchor at the heart of the community.”
Stall holders echo this message and many go further. Todd Cameron-Clarke, who has run an organic meat stall at the market since it opened, said developing the site was “short sighted”. He said: “The market has completely changed the identity of the area. You could fire a canon on a Sunday and you wouldn’t hit anyone and now the area is teeming with life. The market brings people together. It forces people to interract with each other and unlike some food markets it is totally unintimidating. I think any development would be self-defeating for Marylebone and the council should take that on board.”
The brief, which is open for consultation until August 16, proposes the building of a new landmark adult education centre to replace two existing centres in Little Venice and Pimlico, deemed unfit for purpose. The council is planning to sell the smaller sites to help part fund the future development of Moxon Street car park. In the 1960s the land was ring-fenced to build a new primary school but experienced a number of set backs - ultimately halting it for good. Since then, the quandary of how to best use the site has perplexed authorities. Once the consultation window elapses a revised planning brief is expected to be written before seeking planning permission to start work. |
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