Pity anyone trying to set out their stall in dying markets

From: Sue Gillespie, Birkenshaw, Bradford.

WHY are our markets dying? Since I moved back to Yorkshire, eight months ago, I have noticed a worrying downward trend in the street markets which are one of the most attractive features of our Yorkshire towns.

Leeds is half empty, Dewsbury even more so. The traders who are still hanging on report a huge drop in trade across the board. Combined with rises in rents and other costs, it seems inevitable that the old markets will finally vanish, probably to be replaced by gentrified wastelands of new housing development, which will remain empty because nobody can afford them.

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All through childhood and university, Leeds was the greatest shopping experience, both for value and the sheer variety of goods on offer. No supermarket could have matched it either on price or on quality. I loved the liveliness and human interest of it, it was such good shopping and such good fun.

Having a large and varied stock to dispose of, I went to Leeds on Saturday morning with the aim of kicking off a new venture, and discovered a few reasons why new traders might want to choose boot fairs instead.

Leeds is particularly proud of having been the starting point of Marks & Spencer. I wonder if Messers Marks and Spencer had the same initial problems starting up that now confront the small sole trader. Did it cost the equivalent of £2.60 per hour for them to park their little handcart? Was that parking time limited to five hours, after which a huge fine would be levied? Was there a security problem at the end of day, as with Dewsbury, when mobs of children descend on the stalls and scoop up any goods left unattended, when for instance the luckless trader needs to leave the stall to fetch his or her vehicle from wherever remote location it has been parked?

I’m afraid I weighed up the costs and possible benefits of the venture and decided to do eBay instead.

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From: Edward McMillan-Scott MEP, vice-president of the European Parliament and vice-president of the Local Government Association.

AS a Liberal Democrat 
Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and Humber, and as a Yorkshire resident, I was very interested to read the independent study report conducted by England & Lyle Limited and Action for Market Towns, commissioned 
by Settle Area Regeneration Team.

The timely and important study was made possible by enthusiastic participation from a wide range of the local community, including Settle District Chamber of Trade, Yorkshire Dales Society and 
many businesses and local residents.

I was delighted to find that such a wide-ranging selection of people and organisations have an interest in the regeneration of Settle and the surrounding area. 
I was particularly interested in 
the environmental elements of the study, specifically the revelation of the detrimental impact heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) are having on historical market towns like Settle. I second the study’s recommendations that:

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There should be a restriction on the movement of HGVs through Settle so that quarry traffic is prevented from passing through Settle town centre.

The National Park Authority should insist that the bulk of mineral extraction from the quarries in Upper Ribblesdale is transported by rail to ensure that the National Park continues to be a place for quiet, peaceful recreation.

To achieve these vital aims, I pledge my support to the Friends of Upper Ribblesdale action group and encourage the necessary organisations and authorities to put into action these two recommendations.