Market move stalled

George Glover, head of The Moor Market Traders Federation, spoke out at a meeting of Sheffield Council's Cabinet.

He said the last 18 months had been a "complete waste of time" and accused the council of failing to make a decision about their fate.

"The silence is deafening. You obviously cannot make a decision about us," he said.

The market traders' want to move to Fargate during the multi-million pound transformation of The Moor - but consultation with existing retailers has so far failed to result in an agreement.

Mr Glover said the volume of responses to the written consultation, which the council has admitted was "quite low", showed a silent majority supported their proposal.

But Coun Tim Rippon, cabinet member for culture, economic regeneration and planning, disagreed and said more consultation was necessary.

He said: "We have consulted with Fargate traders and we have had some response, but the response rate we did get was regrettably very negative."

Concerns included issues with cleanliness and refuse, access restrictions, over-crowding, conflicting retail images, and loss of trade to Meadowhall.

Coun Rippon said face-to-face consultation with store managers would be arranged: "I think that's the best way to get the opinions of both sides."

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