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Search forWalsall market traders fight for move
Wednesday, November 19, 2008, 08:00
Stallholders are now calling on shoppers to support them in making sure the market is relocated to a temporary home in Bradford Street from its existing Digbeth site.
Traders spoke out following an announcement by Walsall Council that the move was postponed because of a possible legal challenge by Threadneedle Properties, which owns the Old Square Shopping Centre.
Karen Sands, Chair of Walsall Market Traders' Association, said the postponement had left the majority of market traders feeling completely devastated.
She added: "Many are asking why should the Old Square landlords have any control over where the council wants to put its own market?"
In February, councillors recommended the market be moved from High Street to Bradford Street and The Bridge to make way for a major redevelopment of the Digbeth area.
Shopkeepers in and around George Street warned at the time that the plan would draw shoppers away from the High Street, including the Old Square entrance by the Overstrand.
They also warned that the redevelopment would leave them cut off from the town centre behind a construction site, severely hitting trade.
A spokeswoman for Threadneedle Properties denied that a legal challenge against the market move had been lodged and said: "As a major stakeholder in Walsall town centre, our primary responsibilities are to the shop owners in the Old Square and their customers, as well as safeguarding the prosperity of the town and any action that we take is with this responsibility firmly at the front of our minds."
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