10 signatures reached
To: Cambridge City Council
Invest in the historic Cambridge market and stop raising fees
Stop raises prices for traders, as inflation is near zero and shoppers have less money in their pockets in real terms. The market square looks dreadful and there are dozens of empty stalls every day. This should be a clear sign that the place needs investment to restore its beauty and make it attractive to shoppers.
Prepare a consultation with traders and residents to find out what they want the market to be, and produce a report on investing in the market as a matter of fairness, heritage and making the local economy more resilient. If there is no way of funding the project alone, then start an appeal for investment from partners who want to make the market beautiful, vibrant and fair. There is a superb opportunity build on the work done by Cambridge Past Present and Future on this.
Why is this important?
As a historic chartered market town this space and these people are fundamental to Cambridge history. There are opportunities to make the place more sustainable, more accessible and to have more of an emphasis on local goods, but most of all it must be viable and fair.
Cambridge City Council earns over £700,000 a year from the market, but has invested hardly anything back in for decades. A report last year showed that it is looking to invest money into projects which will produce a return, this is an outstanding candidate. The ongoing prosperity of the market is important to help keep funding services but it is not prospering.
Currently the stall coverings are dirty and torn, and traders often have to clean up hypodermic needles and human faeces when they arrive for work on a pitch that they have paid for. There are dozes of empty stalls, graffiti and rotting wooden boards lying around in heaps.
If the council keeps raising prices without investing money back in, then the market will die off and traders who have been in the city for decades will lose their livelihood and the city will lose a central part of its heritage.
