Traders raise ‘huge issues’ with council plans to upgrade Cambridge Market Square

Traders have shared fears the Cambridge market will shrink under the latest plans to upgrade the Market Square set out by Cambridge City Council. The leadership at the city council has stressed the market will not be reduced in size under its plans, and has committed to taking on board feedback from traders.

Changes to the market are being proposed by the authority as part of the Civic Quarter project, which also includes plans to improve the Guildhall and the Corn Exchange. In the Market Square the city council is proposing to install a lightweight canopy over half of the market, under which 27 permanent stalls would be provided.

The rest of the market is proposed to have 64 demountable stalls for “additional trading” on the weekends and during busier months. The city council has suggested the space could be used for events when not in use for the market. It is estimated the project could cost around £12.6million. The authority said it does not have the funding for all of the works at this stage, but proposed to invest £3million to resurface the market.

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Some market traders voiced their concerns about the plans to councillors at a strategy and resources scrutiny committee this week (November 22). Glenys Self said it felt to traders like the proposals had “landed out of space” and argued the project should have “started from the ground upwards”.

She said the plans to only have 27 permanent stalls was a “huge issue” as she said traders believed that would cause a “shrinkage of the market”. Ms Self said: “This 27 stalls plan, it is not going to help the future of the market, we need it changing, we need to save the market through that.”

Concern over the number of permanent stalls was also shared by other traders. Edward Cearns said the proposals being put forward would create a market that was “smaller in scale”. He asked what assurance there was that the authority would work with traders to “deliver something that works for everyone”.

Julia Cox said many of the market traders would not be able to work off demountable stalls. She said there were 33 traders currently trading five or more days a week on the market using 54 permanent pitches between them. She claimed there would be a “massive shortfall in terms of space” with only having 27 permanent stalls. Ms Cox said: “Everybody I have spoken to on the market, my fellow traders, everyone feels that same, no one wants to work from demountable stalls.”

Councillor Simon Smith (Labour), executive councillor for finance and resources, said “nothing is set in stone” at this stage. He stressed the market would not be reduced in size under the plans put forward. However, Cllr Smith said he had heard the views on the amount of permanent stalls proposed, and said in the next stage this would be a “key” point to look at to try and find a resolution. He added that the city council was “listening and learning”.

Initial Civic Quarter project phases could cost around £55million

The Civic Quarter project also includes improvements to the Guildhall and the Corn Exchange. The Guildhall project proposes to refurbish the old building to make it more sustainable, and try to find ways to open it up to the public. The city council has suggested it could redesign the entrance area to make it more accessible.

The authority also set out plans for office space and potentially a “cultural attraction”, which the city council said it was currently having discussion with the Museum of Cambridge about. At the Corn Exchange the city council said it needs to replace the roof and also set out aspirations to upgrade the fabric of the building to improve energy efficiency.

The city council said it wants to increase the capacity of the venue as well, and create additional bars offering food and drink. Improvements outside of the Corn Exchange to Parsons Court have also been proposed to bring the area “back to life”, as it was described as a “quite ugly road full of bins”. Officers said this would help improve the attractiveness of the Corn Exchange as a venue.

The city council said the Civic Quarter project costs at this stage for the initial phases totalled around £55million, including £3.6million design costs for the whole project; £41million for the Guildhall; £3million for the market resurfacing; £4.5million for the Corn Exchange roof replacement; and £2.9million for ‘council on-costs’.

Councillor Tim Bick (Liberal Democrat) said the outcomes the Civic Quarter hoped to achieve were things he supported, including the aim to “enable substantial ongoing savings”, and a reduction in underused facilities. He said the Market Square had “unfortunately been dwindling” and “badly needs investment”.

Cllr Bick did ask for the financial plans for each part of the project to be separated out, so the city council could ensure each part of the project offered good value for money. He also highlighted that tackling antisocial behaviour in the Market Square after market hours was an issue raised by many in the public consultation. Cllr Bick suggested tackling antisocial behaviour should be made one of the official objectives of the Market Square aspect of the project. Cllr Smith said he agreed with this and the committee as a whole offered support.

Councillor Karen Young (Liberal Democrat) said there was “huge concern” about where the money for the future phases would come from. Ben Binns, assistant director for development at the city council, said it was “much easier” to get grants and other external funding for a project once a planning application had been submitted, because he said a scheme was then ‘effectively ready to go’.

Councillor Naomi Bennett (Green Party) said she had concerns about the disruption for traders caused by any works within the Market Square. Cllr Bennett said the authority needed to be careful not to harm the market by trying to save it. She said markets were in decline and in some other cases work to improve a market actually “is the final blow that finishes it off”. Cllr Bennett said: “While I think that if we do nothing on the market we will lose it, I also think there is a threat to the market from what we are proposing and I would like to see a lot more detail on business continuity in place for the market.”

Cllr Smith said more details would be worked on in the next stage, including a support package for market traders. He added that ultimately the city council wanted to be able to pass on the market to the next generation “in a better condition than we found it in”. The Civic Quarter plans are due to be presented to councillors next week at a full council meeting (November 28), where members will be asked if they support the proposal to move the project to the next stage. An initial timeline at this stage has suggested that work on the ground could start in autumn 2026.