Livestock market decision set to end 20-year wait for change

The future of Malton’s market, which dates from the medieval era, has remained uncertain after proposals were announced to re-develop the site in the heart of the North Yorkshire town.

Plans have been drawn up to create new shops and extra car parking on the land in a scheme that is seen as key to bolstering the town’s economy.

The plan follows concerns that millions of pounds in potential revenue is being lost from Malton’s economy to bigger towns and cities such as Scarborough, York and Leeds.

Lengthy discussions with land-owners have now led to a shortlist of four sites being drawn up to build a new livestock market, which is expected to cost up to £3m, on the outskirts of Malton.

The preferred site is expected to be announced by the early summer amid hopes the relocation, which has been mooted for the past two decades, becomes a reality.

A committee of 30 land-owners, farmers and business owners overseeing the relocation plans is involved in talks with potential backers and Ryedale District Council to secure funding for the scheme.

The committee’s chairman, Patrick Foxton, whose family has been farming in Yorkshire since the 15th century, claimed the proposed move would help to ensure the market’s long-term future.

At the peak of its popularity, up to 1,000 cattle and 3,500 sheep were sold at the market, which is held every Tuesday and Friday.

But numbers have dwindled and there are now only an average of 100 cattle and 2,000 sheep are up for sale.

The market, nonetheless, still attracts buyers from across the North of England and as far afield as the Scottish Borders and Wales.

Mr Foxton, 61, who lives in Silpho, near Scarborough, said: “We have trying to find a suitable site for so long now, but hopefully a decision will be made soon as to where the market will relocate.

“This is about securing the market’s long-term future as it has been a mainstay in Malton for centuries, and it is still very much part of the town’s economy.”

Initial plans unveiled by the Fitzwilliam Estate, which has owned much of Malton town centre for the past 300 years, would have seen the livestock market close altogether.

But the controversial proposals sparked a mass of opposition and a petition was collected with more than 5,000 signatures to block the plans, which were abandoned three years ago.

There is a break clause in the market’s lease in 2013, and the estate’s managers have made no secret of their desire to re-develop the existing site.

Plans include building a modest-sized high quality food store and smaller retail units, and creating new parking.

The estate’s agent, Roddy Bushell, said: “Redeveloping the livestock market site is nothing less than the key to reviving Malton’s town centre.

“The scheme proposed is sensitive in scale and design to the historic heritage, while breathing new life into the commercial heart of the town by encouraging more local people and visitors to use its full range of shops and services.

“Everyone who puts Malton’s interests first is agreed that this kind of new use for this central location is vital, and an opportunity to be grasped.”

It is hoped that the market’s relocation will ultimately see auctions held seven days a week.

While Mr Foxton declined to disclose the exact locations which are shortlisted, he stressed the proposed sites were no more than a mile outside of the town centre.

The planned relocation has been hampered by housing schemes earmarked for sites on the fringes of Malton, which means any land has come under intense demand from developers.