The future’s bleak

Watling Market has seen better days. In its heyday it had 100 shops and stalls and people would come from miles to do their shopping at the site, off Barnfield Road, Burnt Oak. But the market now cuts a pathetic figure. It usually has between six and 12 stalls and only opens on Saturday. Its future - much like the market itself - is bleak.

Although it is a sunny Saturday morning, there are few people around. It is noticeable that most of the shoppers are elderly.

Barnet Council leader Mike Freer says the market is failing' (in contrast to the council's website's reference to it as the popular Watling Market'). He says the council cannot afford to operate the market because it is taking away money from core council services'.

Mr Freer's announcement three weeks ago that the council wanted to free itself from the burden of running it came after stallholders were informed their weekly rent was to go up by as much as 50 per cent in April. The rents have not increased since 1999, Mr Freer points out.

But traders claim they cannot afford the increases and accuse the council of intentionally running the market into the ground. Mr Freer says he wants a trust or traders' association to run it instead.

It is all a far cry from when the market opened in 1936. In the Thirties a lot of people from inner-city areas of London, where markets and street vendors were common, began moving to the area. But shopkeepers, irked by the presence of so many new street traders, complained they were bringing down the tone of the area and affecting their sales. In December 1930, around 300 people protested when police moved in to remove two costermongers fruit and veg traders who were blocking a road.

The solution was a new covered market, though the roof was never built, and it was popular addition to the area.

But these days traders say there is little or no profit to be had at the market.

So why are they so keen for it to stay?

Speaking to stallholders, two themes crop up. Firstly, their stalls sell goods which cannot be bought elsewhere in Burnt Oak, they say, like pet accessories and old-fashioned ladies' underwear. Secondly, for some older people, going to the market is one of the days they look forward to as it represents a rare opportunity to get out the house and feel part of the Burnt Oak community.

Doreen Coombes, 75, who lives in nearby Gervase Road, said at the market last Saturday: "I have been coming to Watling Market ever since it started. The market has gone downhill over the years.

"It used to be a pleasure to come here, but not now. It should be an important place for the locals to feel part of the community, if only it was kept up nicely. It doesn't have character, but it used to. You used to come down here, you knew the stallholders, and had a laugh with them."

Julian Marsh, who has run a second-hand book stall in Watling Market for 25 years, said: "A lot of people who come are very elderly and like stuff like Mills & Boon the publishers of romance books - and then swap them. It's more like a public service because I don't earn much money from it. It's a meeting place for them. You carry on because people expect you to be there."

Mr Marsh's weekly rent is rising from £33 to £49 in April, but he says he will have to close because he cannot afford the increase.

"It's not economical," he said. "I already subsidise it and only take £40 or £50 a day, never mind a profit. I think it's disgusting the way the council has gone about this.

"It has given the market no publicity, no help, nothing."

Pattie Skeats is secretary of Burnt Oak Traders' Association and has been liaising with the stallholders over the threat to the market's future. She agrees the market is in a bad way, but believes the council could easily rejuvenate it at little cost.

She does agree with Mr Freer on one point though. "It's dead," she said. "But people interested in buying it will take one look at it and won't touch it." She said she had not heard from Mr Freer, despite his assertion three weeks ago he would discuss the market's future with traders. Mrs Skeats believes new stallholders could be attracted by offering them short-term cut-price weekly rents, and would like to see a farmers' market on the site, like the one which used to take place in Whetstone.

With Barnet Market, in St Albans Road, Barnet, due to relocate to a nearby Barnet car park on a temporary basis while the old market is redeveloped, Mrs Skeats sees this as an ideal opportunity to get Watling Market back on its feet.

She said: "Barnet Market traders could come to Burnt Oak. Why not? Some could trade there in the meantime.

"The council concentrates on Barnet and Whetstone, but what's wrong with having a crack in Burnt Oak?"

A spokesman for the council said: "The council has been considering options which include the reprovision of the market in some form.

"However, it is a complex process and discussions on this will take some time before any firm proposals are drawn up. We understand the frustration of the market traders, but want to assure them that we are working hard to achieve the best outcome for traders and the council."