Open market plans wanted

From the archive, first published Friday 30th Mar 2007.

Traders have been given a

six-month extension to present

plans for the £10 million redevelopment

of their run-down

market.

Brighton and Hove City

Council wants the stallholders

to have a say on the future of the

Open Market.

But so far they have been

unable to come up with a viable

plan and the council has warned

it will offer the project to private

developers if a solution cannot

be reached.

The Open Market Traders'

Association has unveiled plans

to revamp the land between

London Road and Ditchling

Road into a Continental-style

covered area with 70 stalls, flats

and a central square.

Forty homes would be developed

and managed by Hyde

Housing and it is hoped this will

help fund the rest of the project.

But council officers who have

assessed the proposal said

although the traders had made

good progress, the business case

suffered from a lack of detail.

The £10 million redevelopment

will inject new life into an

area that has suffered a series of

setbacks.