Three years ago NABMA highlighted some of the problems Markets faced when being held in streets and urged the government to simply the procedure for closing highways.
This is particularly important for one off events and specialist Markets. We made it part of a Markets Manifesto to secure a speedier and simpler process. We are delighted to report that government has now listened to NABMA and introduced emergency procedures to enable arrangements to be made for one off events and specialist Markets.
At the same government has recognised the importance of Markets in revitalising High Streets and Town Centres and in the last few days produced the following advice to local authorities:
“to boost outdoor trade we would also encourage local authorities to explore options to set up more outdoor Markets. We have made it easier to use traffic orders to close roads through emergency legislation that came into effect on the 23rd May and we encourage you to consider whether closing certain streets to traffic to better support temporary Markets….”
NABMA is delighted that our representations have received a positive response but we recognise the problems faced by local authorities in relaunching their current market offer without the pressures of holding additional Markets. We are in discussions with government to see whether any further help is available to local authorities that might want to extend their markets offer.