Traders in talks on future of Oswestry markets

A drop in the number of traders at the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday outdoor markets in Oswestry, and concern over the number of shoppers using both the indoor and outdoor markets has led to Oswestry Town Council setting out a discussion paper on the subject.

At Wednesday's town council meeting councillors agreed to set up a seminar to hear views of all the traders.

Meanwhile the council is to investigate putting large canopies up over the frontage of the Powis Hall indoor market.

Mayor, Councillor Peter Cherrington, said he and the town clerk saw the canopies at a markets conference and thought they would be eye catching.

"I think if they were put on the front of the Powis Hall they would be seen by shoppers down Bailey Street and hopefully draw them up to the market," he said.

However, Councillor Cynthia Hawksley said she wondered whether the cost would be worth it or whether money could be better spent bringing in more shoppers.

The individual markets in Oswestry are experiencing different fortunes. Powis Hall indoor market has a waiting list of people wanting to rent stalls and the Saturday outdoor market has increased the number of traders it attracts.

When individual markets are looked at, two show small losses – the outdoor Friday market of £24 a week and the monthly farmers' market £17 a week.

On average in 2015 eight traders attended the monthly farmers markets compared to 12 last year.

Councillors are being asked whether the farmers' market is best served by the current location and being on a Friday.

"Does the farmers' market actually have a future, such is its decline?" is one of the questions posed.

Ideas in the past have included moving the Wednesday outdoor market from the Bailey Head down into Bailey Street.

Further questions include: "Should the outdoor market be in the streets rather than the Bailey Head and Horsemarket, could the indoor market survive if the outdoor market moved and what are the risks of moving markets into the streets?"

David Clough, the town council's retail markets and events manager, said: "There continues to be many, non-financial benefits of the market which must not be forgotten, including employment, fundraising, new business enterprise and tourism, but we continue to face difficult challenges."