Christmas market off after asbestos find

Festive market planned for December has been cancelled this year Views sought on community healthcare

LEICESTER’S Christmas market has been cancelled after asbestos was discovered during work to revamp the back of the city’s historic Corn Exchange.

Council officials say the find has set back a £1.9 million project to revamp the grotty rear of the building which overlooks the new square where the market was to be held.

They say that means the event, which had been scheduled to run from December 1 to Christmas Eve, has been called off.

It was planned to set up 45 chalets for traders in the square that replaced the demolished 1970s indoor market hall.

However, Leicester City Council says the additional works required to make the site safe mean the screening work is unlikely to be completed in November as scheduled – and that uncertainty means the Christmas market planned for the new market square will not now go ahead.

Head of markets Paul Edwards said: “This is obviously very disappointing for everyone who was looking forward to the festive market in Leicester this Christmas.

“The decision to cancel the market was a difficult one to make, but as we could not be confident that the works would be finished in time, we could not risk going ahead with the event.

“It was important to make the decision early, so that the traders had time to make alternative arrangements – and we had time to make alternative plans for Christmas 2018 at the new market square.

“The discovery of asbestos within the brick enclosures at the rear of the Corn Exchange could not have been foreseen, but we are determined the new market square will still be a key part of our Christmas programme this year.

“We’ll soon be announcing our plans for a free, family-friendly Christmas event in the square, which we hope people will enjoy –and which we hope will make Leicester Market a key desti- nation in Leicester this Christmas.”

About 20 traders had already signed up for Leicester’s Christmas market and they have all now been contacted.

The first Christmas Market was held in the square last year. Many traders said they were underwhelmed by the event with some failing to make enough money to cover the costs of renting one of the chalets.

The council had promised to make this year’s offering bigger and better. If the contractors working for the city council are unable to complete the scheme by November, work at the Corn Exchange will pause over the Christmas period and will resume in the new year. HEALTH bosses want to know what people think about community healthcare services including district nursing, healthcare services in the home, community hospital beds, community physiotherapy services and community stroke rehabilitation.

Members of Clinical Commissioning Groups, which plan community health care, are considering changes to bring the service up to date.

Before they make any big decisions they want to know what patients and their carers in Leicestershire think.

Tamsin Hooton, director lead for community services redesign on behalf of the local CCGs said: “We face a number of challenges on the horizon: a growing elderly population, many with multiple long-term conditions, and rising costs of delivering services.

“Demand is increasing at a faster rate than available resources and we need to think differently about how we deliver care that meets people’s needs now and in the future.

“Patients have told us they want to stay at home wherever they can, and clinical evidence tells us that people recover much better and faster at home. In order for us to deliver this kind of care, and to support the work already underway to deliver more home based and integrated community care, our existing services need to change and that’s why we are looking at opportunities to redesign them.

“We are doing this by listening to the views and experiences of local patients, clinicians and health and social care staff and looking at examples of how this kind of care is delivered well elsewhere in the country.”

Patients who are receiving community based healthcare their family and carers can complete an online survey at: surveymonkey.com/r/BCTCSR18. For a paper copy e mail communications@ eastleicestershireandrutlandccg.nhs.uk or ring 0116 295 3405.

The closing date for the survey is Sunday October 21.