Second Mayoral Candidate Visits Shepherd's Bush Market

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Market traders tell Brian Paddick that high rents are threatening their businesses

For the second time this month, Shepherd's Bush market traders expressed their grievances to one of London's mayoral hopefuls.

Liberal Democrat candidate, Brian Paddick, toured the market on Friday, asking shop and stall owners how business was. "Terrible," came the repeated reply.

Business-owners said their greatest concern was the proposed rent increases by Transport for London, which owns the market. "They want to increase the rent by 66% but business is going down," trader Surjeet Duggal said.

"It sounds like they're trying to price you out of the market," replied Paddick.

"They're scaring people," said trader Patrick Curtis. "We are right on the floor. This market is going through one of its worst periods in 30 years".

Despite Paddick's past career as a police chief, there was little mention of the high levels of crime which have plagued the market area in recent years.

Instead, the poor state of the market was high on people's minds: "We've had a lot of people promising everything and giving us nothing," one trader said. "TfL are taking everything out and putting nothing in. They're slaughtering us".

Explaining its position, a TfL spokesperson told the Evening Standard recently: "TfL has spent over £200,000 in the last year maintaining and improving the market, including spending on security, new lighting and work on both the market canopy and drainage system".

"This year, a number of leases are up for renewal. To introduce a level playing field, we are simply seeking to achieve current open market rental values for the units involved. If we cannot agree figures by negotiation, the tenants can apply for these to be fixed by the court," the spokesperson is reported to have said.

Paddick said that as the Mayor of London chairs the TfL board, it is within the mayor's power to tackle the market's problems: "I would make sure the money raised from the market is ploughed back in. Street markets are part of the tradition of London," he said.

 

April 29, 2008