Altrincham Market is to “re-jig” the layout of its Christmas Markets this weekend after Trafford Council refused to back down from its position that some of the traders were operating illegally.
A row kicked off on Saturday morning when the council sent an enforcement officer down to the market to demand that certain traders on Market Street and Greenwood Street packed up as they were trading without the necessary licenses.
Nick Johnson, chief executive of Market Operations, claimed the affected traders were “entirely allowed” under the terms of the legal agreement signed between the market and the council two years ago, but the council is not budging.
In a statement, the council said it “supports the activity and success” of the market and it is in its interest to see the market generate more income as it receives a “small profit share”.
However, it added: “The Operating Agreement between the Council and Market Operations does not allow them to set up additional market stalls without the Council’s agreement as to their location and without compliance with all usual legal and local authority requirements. The Operating Agreement specifically states that Market Operations is to ‘obtain all necessary licences and consents relating to the activities to be carried out’ – in other words, Market Operations are required to comply with the Council’s usual authorisation and licencing process relating to markets.
“Market Operations were asked to complete a Market application in advance of last weekend’s market but refused to take notice or cooperate with the Council in any way. Had they been willing to comply with the legal requirements, we were willing to expedite the process to enable the traders to proceed and the unfortunate incident could have been avoided.
“The result of their refusal to cooperate was that Council officers witnessed nine stalls trading illegally on the public highway in Altrincham on Saturday, four in a disabled bay, which they did not have permission to suspend or use. The Council has already received a complaint about the disabled parking spaces being taken out of use.”
The council added that an application would allow for “appropriate health and safety measures” such as high visibility barriers to be put in place.
It confirmed it would seek to take “formal action” if necessary.
It added: “Whilst the Council remains extremely supportive of the market, we reiterate that no one is above the law and appropriate procedures must be followed. We are happy to work with Market Operations to make sure that in future these additional stalls are trading legally on the highway, however if the request continues to be ignored, the Council will have no choice but to take formal action. We have already approached Market Operations again today to ask them to complete the necessary paperwork.”
Altrincham Market and Market House has been a runaway success since relaunching last year, and was recently named the UK’s best local market by Observer Food Monthly.
Johnson said the changes forced upon it were “a pity” and that the matter was “far from clear cut”.
He said: “We are in ‘discussion’ about the interpretation of the legal agreement. The matter is far from clear cut.
“In the meantime we propose to re-jig the footprint of the Christmas Markets to accommodate the increased traders during the festive period. It’s a pity because the first Christmas Market we held this weekend looked and felt great, the traders and public loved it!
“We’re sure we can deliver something equally magical and we certainly aren’t going to let this get in the way of making magical Christmas memories for the traders and many thousands of people visiting the Alt. Great British Christmas Markets. We were voted the country’s best market for a reason! We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.”
