EMILY HEWARD
THE family behind Stockport’s Foodie Friday street food market say they are ‘incredibly disappointed’ their plans for a permanent operation inside the town’s Produce Hall were rejected.
Organisers of the popular monthly event had submitted plans for a food and drink hall inside the Grade II listed building in the council’s search for an anchor tenant for the Market Place. Around 4,000 people signed a petition in support of the proposals, but their bid was rejected in favour of a scheme from restaurateur Steve Pilling.
John and Rosemary Barratt and son Joe, who took over the running of Foodie Friday from the council in 2015 and also run community arts hub Seven Miles Out, said the result ‘exposed the council’s desire to gentrify the Market Place which risks alienating large parts of the local community.’
“Our plans for The Produce Hall were all about building on Foodie Friday, which brings people together whether they’re from Bramhall or Brinnington, to experience a market for the many, not the few.”
Their vision, supported by what they describe as a ‘robust business plan,’ would have seen permanent and pop-up food traders take up residence inside the building, alongside a bar serving craft beers from local microbreweries.
A live music and entertainment stage would also have given a platform to upand-coming local bands.
The Barratts claim the decision-makers have ‘prioritised the corporate desires of council executives over the needs of the local community.’
Thanking people who backed their plans, the Foodie Friday team said it appeared the council ‘simply don’t understand what local people want.’ Foodie Friday traders and visitors have reacted with outrage at the result, with one even threatening to quit the Labour party in protest.
Coun Kate Butler said the decision was based solely on the strength of the applications and that Mr Pilling’s proposal best achieved its aim of a ‘sustainable and transformative’ offer.
“Throughout the process, the selection panel made up of council representatives and members of the local business community have ensured the decision making is robust,” she said.