A FARMERS’ market has been forced to close and another is in danger after the council raised ground rents.

The monthly Essex Farmers Market in George Lane, South Woodford has been shut with immediate effect because organiser Ian Chisholm says he can no longer afford to run it.

Mr Chisholm, 52, who sells eggs from his farm in Norton Mandeville at the market, says the monthly market in Wanstead High Street, which has been running for almost four years, is also on the brink of shutting.

He says the council have upped ground rents from £15 to £28 per trader.

And he added: “I’m not in this to get rich, but this increase means I have to up my charges to traders by 25 percent.

“That means they will have to pay £60 each, which is just not feasible for most of them.

“We have put a lot of work into building up the market in South Woodford and attracting traders to it, but this has basically killed it.”

The Wanstead Business Partnership (WBP) has recently been in touch with Mr Chisholm and Redbridge Council to request the market be extended down the High Street towards the George pub.

And Mr Chisholm says he has received an email from the council’s regeneration department sounding him out about extending the market.

Rachel Root who runs the Orange Tree shop in the High Street is a member of the WBP.

She said: “We wanted to have the market spread out so that everybody feels the benefit of the footfall it brings.

“To hear that the council are considering raising rents in the current economic climate is somewhat surprising.

“It would be a great shame if it closed.”

The market in South Woodford had been in business for around 15 months.

Simon Ross, 51, of Chelmsford Road, South Woodford, was a regular visitor.

He said: “I am surprised that Redbridge Council are charging them at all, never mind increasing rents.

“Markets make for vibrant areas and there needs to be complete rethink.

“The last thing you should be doing in a recession is squeezing small traders.

“They recently asked people to back small independent businesses, but this runs comletely contrary to that.

"The left hand clearly isn’t talking to the right hand.”

A spokesman for Redbridge Council said: "The daily cost of market stalls has changed this year increasing from £14 to £28, the changes were part of this year’s budget process and took effect in April.

"The Council did not receive any feedback at all on this matter when it consulted on the proposal as part of the Budget consultation.

"If local traders have particular concerns, we are happy to listen to what they have to say. We have always listened to businesses in the past and tried to take on board their concerns where possible.

"A recent example of this was a favourable restructuring of street trading fees for the local businesses in the borough. We have also waived the licensing fees for tables and chairs on the pavement during the Olympics."

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