Scrutiny Committee Sends Lockmeadow Market Notice Back to Maidstone Cabinet

Maidstone Borough Council's decision to give notice to the traders at Lockmeadow Market has been sent back to the Cabinet for reconsideration, after the council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee backed a call-in and asked for the future of the market hall building and the running of the market itself to be treated as separate questions.

The Cabinet had agreed on 22 July, under a decision titled "Lockmeadow Improvements", to serve notice on the market traders while it considered the long-term future of the site. The decision was called in for scrutiny by Councillor Parfitt and considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 10 August; the minutes of that meeting have now been published.

Three residents - Michael Walkling, June Bick and Royston Starling - spoke at the meeting, and a petition on the market's future was submitted to the council, although it could not be formally presented to the committee because it had not been lodged the required two weeks in advance. The call-in raised concerns that traders had not been properly consulted, that the Cabinet report contained no financial information and no equality impact assessment, that the market's historical importance had not been fully weighed, and that it was unclear what the site would be used for once notice had been served. Members also noted that the council's own new weekly market at Jubilee Square could be seen as competition for Lockmeadow.

Responding, the Leader of the Council said further consultation with traders would take place, that the market in its current form was loss-making, and that traders would be given six months' notice to allow alternatives to be worked up. A key point in the discussion was that the traders do most of their business from the Lockmeadow car park rather than inside the market hall itself, which led members to explore "decoupling" the two so that trading could continue while the future of the building was settled separately.

The committee resolved to refer the matter back to the Cabinet, recommending that it separate the decision on the market hall building from the Tuesday and Saturday market so that trading can continue until a strategy for the town's market is finalised; that it run a public consultation on future options for the wider Lockmeadow area; and that a future options report be brought forward through the council's Policy Advisory Committee system.

The committee's recommendations are not binding, and the Cabinet can choose to confirm its original decision. Source: Maidstone Borough Council