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18
Sept
Town council on home straight towards full control of Knaresborough Market
Knaresborough Town Council’s plans to take over the running of the town’s weekly market took another step forward this week.
The first phase of the process, which has seen a Knaresborough Town Council team shadow their North Yorkshire Council counterparts, has now been successfully completed, and the second phase has begun.
Cllr James Pickard, who has led the town council’s efforts, said:
Knaresborough Town Council is now governing the market, and it’s now all about operational considerations, such as transport and logistics, crew power, volunteers, health and safety, and taking bookings. There’s a lot to it, but once we’ve got all that sorted, we’ll be on our own.
Shadow team: town ranger Ollie Ward, town development manager Mark Brayshaw, and Councillor James Pickard.
Knaresborough Town Council has been campaigning to take over the running of the market as part of North Yorkshire Council leader Cllr Carl Les's “double devolution” policy, which gives town and parish councils the chance to bid to take control of local assets and institutions if they can make a successful business case.
Councillors and traders say that having the market run by and for local people will make it more responsive to local need and secure its future. North Yorkshire Council approved the move in October but progress has been slow.
Cllr Pickard said:
It’s taken some doing, but some of North Yorkshire Council’s officers have been brilliant helping us. It’s a major development for the town. Someone called it ‘one small step for Knaresborough Town Council, but one giant leap for Knaresborough’.
The market is a vital part of the town’s heritage. Without it, Knaresborough loses some of its identity, so we’re really protecting the identity of the town.
Knaresborough Market
This week’s Wednesday market included 40 stalls – more than it has seen for years – but Cllr Pickard hopes to see as many as 60 or 70 over the coming months. He said:
Numbers may plateau through the winter months, so we have to be realistic. But some traders who have been with us historically have come back, so we’re very optimistic.
Knaresborough Market traces its origins to a royal charter from King Edward II in 1310, although there had been a market in the town for more than a century before that.
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