Monday, November 18, 2024

News: Council consult on future of Rotherham markets

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Rotherham town centre visitors are being asked to tell the council how they use the market currently and what they would like to see from its £36m redevelopment.

Rothbiz reported in September that Rotherham Council were taking the opportunity to consult while demolition and construction work is underway on the Drummond Street site.

The plans, which were approved in 2023, will bring together the library, markets, food hall, gallery, and event spaces onto one site.

The redevelopment has meant that the outdoor markets have been moved temporarily onto nearby streets with the indoor markets remaining open.

Due to logistics, the impact of bad weather and the affect on the indoor market traders, Rotherham Council has already said that it is their preference that the move of the outdoor market remains a temporary measure.

Since work began, traders in the indoor market have experienced a loss of footfall and trade as a result of closure of entrances and loss of connectivity with the outdoor covered market, which traders say has been exacerbated by the expansion of on street trading.

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With an ambitious concept for the new market and food hall, the strategy could include additional ad-hoc markets on street (food markets, continental markets, etc) that would complement and add to the core offer within the new market building.

Views are being sought on the indoor and outdoor markets and online consultation is available until November 30.

Alternatively, plans for the markets will be on display at the Rotherham Markets consultation stand at Rotherham Indoor Market main entrance on Howard Street on Tuesday November 19 between 10am and 2pm.

Back in 2022, a council study on the current needs and challenges facing the markets was undertaken after footfall remained below pre-pandemic levels and councillors were concerned about the recovery and financial sustainability of the markets. The study also looked at the redesigned space, targeting a younger demographic and retaining current traders through the redevelopment.

As the redevelopment work moves to demolishing the Guardian Centre, contractors, Henry Boot say that "work on the entire Rotherham Markets development is expected to complete in 2027."

The final cost for the development, which has risen largely due to the impact of inflation on the project delivery costs, has also been confirmed.

The value of the council contract with Henry Boot has been published recently as £36,251,213. This makes it second only to the £47m Forge Island development in terms of town centre investment.

Rotherham Markets website

Images: RMBC / Henry Boot

15 comments:

Anonymous,  November 18, 2024 at 12:46 PM  

Shouldn't this have been done before they actually started work on it? Or is that too much like common sense?

Anonymous,  November 18, 2024 at 2:26 PM  

Consultations normally run throughout the process as development progresses. There have already been initial consultations and the current survey has been live for a few months.

Anonymous,  November 19, 2024 at 8:57 AM  

Personally, I think bringing the library closer to the town centre is a good move (it was a daft thing to move it in the first place). It would be nice if there was a similar space to the old Arts Centre included in the building, but I'm not sure if that's on the cards.

Moving from Riverside House is going to have a knock-on effect on that building. Is there any news as to what's likely to happen there?

Anonymous,  November 19, 2024 at 11:21 AM  

How busy are libraries now? Back in the day they were essential, now I'm not so sure.

Anonymous,  November 19, 2024 at 2:43 PM  

If you would like and would make use of an arts space feed this into the consultation for consideration.

Anonymous,  November 19, 2024 at 5:10 PM  

Who uses libraries now days?Why waste millions ,better giving free access to internet and maybe supply laptops to them who can't afford one,every book ever written available at your finger tips.

Anonymous,  November 19, 2024 at 8:50 PM  

If you visit the library they do provide access to computers and the internet.

Anonymous,  November 20, 2024 at 6:57 PM  

Your missing point,every book written is available online,just supply people with laptops and access,and don't waste money building libraries!

Anonymous,  November 20, 2024 at 8:14 PM  

I use the library. That may have something to do with the fact that I am able to punctuate correctly.

Anonymous,  November 21, 2024 at 12:29 PM  

Right, and why build swimming pools when kids can learn to swim in polluted lakes, and

Anonymous,  November 21, 2024 at 1:28 PM  

I'd much rather see the council spend money on a new library than throwing good money after bad on cleaning up Eastwood on a daily basis.

Jez November 21, 2024 at 5:16 PM  

Not so sure that every book that has been written has been made available online. I am certain though that every book that is available on line is not available free of charge. And enabling everyone to have access to books and not just those that can afford it is why someone came up with the idea of.... Libraries.

Anonymous,  November 22, 2024 at 1:33 PM  

Me and the wife spend all day there when it's really cold. Staff have the central heating on Blast Furnace setting and we get to read the newspapers and use RMBC toilet paper. What's not to like?

Anonymous,  November 22, 2024 at 2:28 PM  

The problem with that is RMBC toilet paper is only 1 ply. You're fingers will go straight through and you'll end up with dirty fingernails.

Anonymous,  November 22, 2024 at 2:38 PM  

WRONG!
We use pages from one of the big encyclopedias.

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