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Street trading ban to be discussed

10:00am Tuesday 7th July 2009 in


A PLAN to ban street trading in parts of town centre streets will be discussed at a meeting tonight.

Swindon Council’s Licensing Committee will meet at the Civic Offices, in Euclid Street, from 6pm to discuss a proposal to designate part or all of six town centre streets as prohibited areas.

If the plan is approved street traders will be banned from Canal Walk, The Parade, Regent Street, Regent Circus, Edgeware Road and part of Bridge Street from November.

The committee will consider the proposal before deciding whether to put it before full council on Thursday, July 16. Several street traders have raised objections.

Comments(11)

SAM2WIN says...
10:21am Tue 7 Jul 09

Well done Swindon
Yet another well thought out plan to destroy OUR town centre. How will pushing out our few independent traders bring shoppers back into our dying town centre?
Our wonderful council have already taken our market. We need greater diversification not less

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Meldrews Dad says...
10:28am Tue 7 Jul 09

Congratulations SBC!

Another nail in the coffin for the town centre. Street traders were probably the only useful facility in the ttown so they had to go. Now I will be forced to buy overpriced flowers at a "shop".

Perhaps the borough could raise a few pounds by marketing their policy to kill a town centre by stopping cars getting in, providing filthy inadequate buses and now by killing off street traders.

Thank goodness the mobile phone stall managed to find a shop and go "respectable".

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pjohnson0410 says...
11:24am Tue 7 Jul 09

Well, the council have it all but closed down, keep going maybe thats how they will get all those houses into the centre or a new hotel???
The canopy in the parade could be a much nicer place if they allow other stalls like the colourful flower girl, instead of allowing hoards of Drunks, Layabouts and the Loud Youths with thier colourful language and constant spitting, which they seem happy to allow.
R I P Swindon town centre!!

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Buster says...
11:41am Tue 7 Jul 09

I do wonder if this is just a box ticking exercise so that SBC can charge for licences to allow some traders to use these roads.

Decent and independent street traders could make Swindon town centre so much better.

What are the chances that the extortionately priced European markets that appear every few months will have some sort of exemption?

Has anyone thought about the impact this will have on the the local farmers market?

It would make sense to hold the farmers market in the town centre at a weekend so that people who work during the week can get to it without having to go out of the centre to the bargain basement 'couldn't sell it on the high st' village.

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swindonistani says...
12:20pm Tue 7 Jul 09

I do not know what this council has in mind for Swindon
but from the recent decisions it seems that our local politicians are intent on destroying the Towns heart
Putting parking prices up and now banning traders
I strongly suspect that some in the council have some vested interests to destroy the town centre in order to acquire on the cheap the properties there and offer them to redeveloppers making huge amount of profit in the process.
I sincerely would like the OFT to investigate the actions of some members of the SBC.

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The Real Librarian says...
12:29pm Tue 7 Jul 09

The council doesn't really have a right to an opinion on this sort of thing until it clears up the mess it has made of the covered market.

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Mr Blackwell says...
1:12pm Tue 7 Jul 09

It's a pity they're not more concerned with the massive amount of empty, closed and boarded up shops in the town centre, rather than directing their time and resources to closing down yet more traders.

As another contributor mentioned above, it would be a real shame to see the outdoor flower stall to disappear from the town centre.

How can *anyone* possibly object to such a trader?

By all means refuse the dodgy/smelly ones a licence, but don't throw the baby out with the bath water!

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cookie13 says...
1:26pm Tue 7 Jul 09

Well done SBC, what an outstanding idea, keep on like this and Swindon Town Centre will be dead in no time.

Street vendors and independent retailers need your support, not nails in their coffins!

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IzzyP says...
3:37pm Tue 7 Jul 09

SBC should be encouraging independent trading, on the street or otherwise. More street trading would make our shopping centre vibrant and interesting and support those from the area who have been made redundant and have started their own businesses. I only go into town now for business I can't do on the web, there'll be even less incentive!

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RF1 says...
8:39pm Tue 7 Jul 09

SBC is run by a load of brainless twonks.

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Bobfm says...
8:46am Wed 8 Jul 09

It is interesting that even in huge shopping centres like the ones in Milton Keynes they still have a huge market.

In addition they also have 'market stalls' the the MK Centre itself.

People travel for miles to go to MK. Frankly I wouldn't want to live there but as a frequent visitor in the past, lecturing, the one thing MK has going for is huge diversity both in shopping and in Leisure.

Xscape their real snow dome has been there for years.

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