Friday, November 25, 2005

Market Traders Reject Changes

Stockport Council are seeking Heritage Lottery Funding to refurbish the Glass Umbrella. Readers of the weblog will be aware of my efforts to publicise the consultation process. I met with Steve Burns who assured me that two thirds of the Market Traders favoured Option 4.

Barbara Mulliner, a Glass Umbrella trader, wrote me arguing against the refurbishment. (See previous posting.) To back up her point, she has provided a list signed by 44 Market Hall traders showing that: 41 favour Option 2 (repair and maintenance only); 2 favour Option 4 (the HLF refurbishment); and 1 cannot make a decision on the details presented by the Council.

This gives the Trust a connundrum. We favour investment in the Glass Umbrella and worry that doing nothing but repairing the building will do nothing to counter a slow decline in the market. But what is the value of a plan that the Glass Umbrella traders are almost unanimous against?