Will the Preston Market Re-development Support it’s Traders?

Historically, Preston has always been a market place town. Traders, hagglers, and generations of bargain hunters have been hard at work since it’s erection in 1875, to keep the marketplace a thriving part of the Preston community. And despite the growing city around it, the market has stood tall and preserved it’s status as a symbol of Preston.

Since late 2014 there has been, often controversial, discussion about the prospect of a rejuvenated market. Plans were unveiled in early 2015 and a change in architect teams followed later that year, as the Frank Whittle Partnership took over from IBI Taylor Young.

I spoke to Mrs Freeman about her opinion of the market redevelopment. She is a 92 year old lady with a long history with the Preston markets throughout the last century. Her son has recently closed their family stall which she believes is due to the new plans.

Following up on Mrs Freeman's comments of the plans potentially spoiling the market, I spoke to Preston city council Leader Peter Rankin asking what is being done to ensure traders get their say.

Have you been in communication with the market traders throughout this project?

“Absolutely. They’ve been absolutely crucial they’ve been very cooperative, they are excited about it as I am, the prospect of moving. A change of course like this is challenging, it’s worrying, so we’ve been doing our very best to try and alleviate any sort of worries that the market traders have and they’ve been constantly kept in the picture, they’ve been consulted, we don’t want to put up a market that they don’t want so that’s why the architects have been working very closely to ensure it is attractive to market traders and to the public.”

Have you found any issues, particularly from the veteran traders?

“I think some of the market traders will probably take the opportunity to retire. They’re all entitled to compensation, which they’ll get from us, the market trading licenses are pretty unique. The legal aspects go back donkey’s years maybe a hundred years. They are entitled not just to have a new home but they are also entitled to compensation for the giving up of their leases that they’ve got from us.”

Last month the plans for the marketplace, which includes multiple restaurants and an 11 screen cinema, were presented for public consultation in St George’s shopping center. I asked Mr Rankin what the first stage of these plans will be:

“First of all we are renovating the old market canopies. These wonderful listed structures, one of which is Victorian, the other was erected in the 1920s. It’s the first time they’ve had a deep clean, such a deep clean, so they’ve been cleaned right back to the base metal to get rid of all the rust, the paint, all the horrible stuff. So they are going to look spectacular when that’s finished.”

“ So that’s phase one, then we are creating a food market within the big covered market. And then we demolish the old market and car park which was erected in the 1970s. And when that’s demolished we start building the cinema with restaurants. So it’s a very good project.”

Do you think this redevelopment is long overdue?

“It is long overdue because this city was planning for a very big development, well it should have been completed by 2010 but basically just as the developers were starting there was a global financial crash in 2008 and the whole thing went belly up. It was the same developers that were actually involved in Liverpool One which went ahead and has been very successful, but ours just collapsed. It was about £400 million scheme so we’ve been looking at ways to get something going for this part of the city ever since and this is it, it’s going to be £40 million and it’s very exciting.

My full interview with Councillor Rankin is available below.