Many of you will have seen the news that Westmorland and Furness Council has suddenly brought forward the full closure of the market in Barrow.
I share the anger and frustrations of residents, and I am raging about the way that the market traders have been treated in all this. I have asked that the council urgently provide a plan for how these businesses will be supported.
We have a huge opportunity here to totally transform our town centre backed by £200m additional investment from this Government and the innovative Team Barrow partnership. That includes a replacement for the Forum and Market. This is an important moment for our town and we have to get it right.
However, I’m increasingly concerned as we move through this process that the lack of urgency by Westmorland and Furness Council will lead to us losing important businesses, community services, and town institutions. Once they are gone, they are gone. It will be very difficult to replace them.
The council has known for a while now that it would need to provide an interim space for the market and to replace the Forum. The money is there and there are plenty of options available. We should not be in a position where the council are giving market traders less than 12 hours to clear their premises and with no clear plan for where they can move, whilst we wait for the Kendal-based council cabinet to decide on their preferred solution.
I will continue to push for greater urgency and clarity around these decisions which are so important to our town.
