New Watford market could be in shipping containers (From Watford Observer)
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New Watford market could be in shipping containers
5:10pm Saturday 23rd February 2013 in News
By Adam Binnie, Senior Reporter
Artist impression of what the new market could look like
Watford’s new market could be largely constructed of shipping containers, and will allow traders to set up stalls on a daily basis.
Intu, formerly Capital Shopping Centres, owns the Harlequin, and is taking the space currently occupied by Charter Place market as part of a widescale redevelopment of the area.
Watford Borough Council will build a new £1million indoor market in the car park outside the former TJ Hughes building to replace the market in Charter Place.
At a meeting of the market working group on Wednesday night, traders, councillors and representatives from a design consultant discussed the new site.
Urban Space Management has been appointed as a design consultant and the committee has visited Borough, Spitalfields, Box-park and Greenwich markets for ideas.
The Shoreditch-based Boxpark was a particular inspiration for the new market in Watford.
Described as “the world’s first pop-up mall” Boxpark was opened in 2011 and is constructed of stripped and refitted, low-cost shipping containers.
Prospective designs for the new market in Watford were based on a similar “modular” layout, made of shipping containers, which would be stacked on two levels.
The market would operate a core trading policy, meaning permanent stall holders would have to operate every day the market was open.
Traders unable to commit would be able to turn up for the day but would not be able to store anything at the market.
Current traders will have to reapply for pitches in the new market.
Mayor Dorothy Thornhill said: “People will come if it’s worth coming for. It has to sell what people want to buy otherwise it won’t survive.”
The legal handover of Charter Place will take place in March, although Watford Borough Council will still manage the market and collect the fees. Intu has promised to keep the current market open until June 2014 to allow current traders to either move to the new market or sell their old stock.
The company has also agreed to pay any compensation claims which might arise from traders.
Comments(6)
MarsLander
says...
7:09am Sun 24 Feb 13
Your comment is therefore without substance.
On a similar article earlier in the WO doubts over the wisdom of moving the market to this site prevailed.
If it is indoor again, I am presuming it will once again smell of wet fish, a not fantastically attractive proposition.
Real markets do not need attractive lighting, extended opening hours nor events. They are markets. They are held in the open air, don't smell and use the sun as lighting and they are well used by shoppers.
This idea by the council is to replace one failing market with another, all in the name of giving over our town centre to one company to control.
The fact they are imposing their "Intu" name on the Harlequin shows how much heed they will be paying to our needs as opposed to their commercial needs.
mr_jrt
says...
12:19pm Sun 24 Feb 13
In years gone by town would've fought tooth and nail for a market charter!
I'm not entirely clear quite how they plan to fit the entirety of the market onto the tiny car park site...not to mention the lack of access to the site unless they do away with the bridge!
...and having double-stacked shipping containers is all nice and well...but how exactly are they going to provide wheelchair access? I'd imagine lifts would prove somewhat expensive and difficult to integrate?
mr_jrt
says...
12:28pm Sun 24 Feb 13
garston tony
says...
10:38am Mon 25 Feb 13
Wacko Jacko
says...
3:55pm Mon 25 Feb 13
mr_jrt wrote:I think you'll find that any new facility has to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act these days, so if there's an upper level, it will have to have wheelchair access and that means at least one lift
...and so the market forced off it's original site by Tesco is now forced off it's replacement site by the Harlequin.
In years gone by town would've fought tooth and nail for a market charter!
I'm not entirely clear quite how they plan to fit the entirety of the market onto the tiny car park site...not to mention the lack of access to the site unless they do away with the bridge!
...and having double-stacked shipping containers is all nice and well...but how exactly are they going to provide wheelchair access? I'd imagine lifts would prove somewhat expensive and difficult to integrate?
Mohandas says...
5:33pm Sat 23 Feb 13