Old Spitalfields Market
Dear Sirs,
I write in respect of the decision of Tower Hamlets Council’s Development Committee to grant permission to Town & Country Markets, which runs Spitalfields Market, to operate on Saturdays in addition to the other six days of the week.
This has never been permitted before. Historically this was because of the religious sensibilities of local residents, rightly observed.
More recently, at least one day of rest was jealously guarded by local residents because of the anticipated increase in rubbish, pedestrian congestion and road traffic which Saturday opening would cause.
Local residents understood it to be the case that when the present owners took over Spitalfields Market they undertook not to operate on a Saturdays.
While we read that six community organisations representing 1,000 local residents plan to appeal this decision, if their appeal is rejected, it is imperative that Tower Hamlets Council thinks hard about traffic management, waste disposal and the policing of pavements.
We all welcome regeneration. But having now lost our remaining ‘day of rest’, no-one now wants to see streets gridlocked with cafe tables and chairs, making residents with shopping or pushchairs step into the road just to get down the street.
The Council must also take into account the desire expressed by many residents to me on the doorstep to consult more widely with residents before decisions are taken, apparently over their heads.
Yours faithfully,
Matt Smith
Toynbee Hall
Former Conservative candidate, Spitalfields & Banglatown by-election 2010