PLANS for new weekend and evening markets in the Market Place could put Melksham “back on the map” as a market town.
That’s the opinion of leader of Melksham Town Council, cllr Vanessa Fiorelli, who backed plans at a meeting last month to push forward with the council’s vision for the Market Place, which is hoped will encourage people back into the town post-lockdown.
It is hoped that later this year, the council will launch a series of evening street food markets, artisan food and drink markets, plant and gardens, and brocantes (flea markets), to complement the already successful Makers’ Market.
“Realistically, we should be thinking about putting Melksham back on the map, where it should be in regards to being a market town, because that’s what we are,” said cllr Fiorelli. “We’ve got that lovely Market Place, so let’s use it!”
Cllr Adrienne Westbrook added, “It’s one of the things that comes up all the time – the waste of space that we have in the Market Place – constantly underused.
“We’ve got a wonderful Market Place – it’s dead, it’s dull, it’s boring and it needs to be used effectively as a market place. And we need to be thinking about what we are going to be doing post-pandemic. We live in hope of June, July, August time – we need to get people back into our town centre and I think this is one of the ways that we can do it.”
Cllr Westbrook also added that the town council should continue to push for Wiltshire Council to hand over control of the Market Place to the town council.
At the meeting, councillors discussed a 10-year plan for the Market Place, which gave a breakdown of the expected expenditure and income of the markets – the majority of councillors backed the report, with cllr Jon Hubbard making one amendment – to offer discounted pitch fees in the first two years of the markets, to encourage traders to take part.
Cllr Hubbard suggested charging £15 a pitch in the first year; £20 in the second; before moving to the full amount of £25 a pitch in the third year and beyond.
Concerned that the markets would not be able to achieve their full potential this year because of Covid-19 restrictions, cllr Richard Wiltshire suggested postponing plans to the 2022/23 financial year.
However, whilst other councillors agreed that the launch of the new series of markets was “Covid-dependent”, the majority were confident that restrictions would be lifted this year to allow for them to go ahead.
The town council has allocated £4,000 in its 2021/22 budget to purchase gazebos that will available to traders for hire.
