A RALLYING call from market traders has been issued to the people of Birmingham, urging them to support the cherished Bull Ring Markets.
The Pershore Street site was dealt a body-blow earlier this month when councillors revealed they could no longer fund an £80 million state-of-the-art wholesale facility at the former IMI site in Witton.
Council leaders and officers have offered help finding another site in Birmingham and assured locals the markets are not being strangled in a bid to sell the coveted Digbeth pitches occupied by hundreds of stalls.
Previously a council spokesman also said the traders would not be kicked off the wholesale site until another had been found although an indicative date of 2013 was given for the closure prior to relocation.
But, as reported in the Mail, traders fear that without financial support a move will never happen because somehow tens of millions of pounds would have to be found to fund the new wholsesale facilities.
They have said that means the wholesale market move could be doomed without the council funding.
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29251588 And if the wholesale markets go down, stallholders on the remaining markets would be left with crippling bills to travel and pick up their fresh produce in other cities, they say. Traders fear that would kill off their businesses and they are adamant that city council assurances over the future are hollow.
And Bernice Ellis, co-chair of the outdoor market traders’ association, said members of the public had already started to show support for the campaign.
Yesterday, as traders launched their Save Our Markets campaign, Mrs Ellis said: “Within minutes of us launching the petition we’ve been mobbed and it just goes to show the public love the markets.
“The council are not considering the effect the wholesale closing will have on the markets and the effect it will have on the public who vote for the council.
“We do need volunteers to help man the petition table whether for ten minutes or an hour. These are the people’s markets and we need the people to help and get behind this campaign.”
Speaking to those manning stalls they told of a shared history and tight family bonds as businesses are passed down through the generations.
Rasi Howe, aged 32, from West Bromwich, said some families had been trading at the site for generations, handing their businesses down to their children.
He said: “It’s really bad, most of us are third or fourth generation traders.
“This is going to hurt our livelihoods we’ve all worked hard for.
“If the wholesale closes my business will be as good as lost, we depend on the wholesale market.
“I think closing it would affect the whole of Birmingham, people might think it won’t affect them but it will in the long run.”
Jayne and Roger Brown, of RB Dairy Products, have been in business together 30 years. Mr Brown’s father ran their stall before them.
Mrs Brown, aged 47, from Solihull, said: “This will have a massive impact. A lot of people don’t have much money and need to make it spread, what will they do? I have regulars who come every week who rely on us.
“I think people will be 100 per cent behind us because this affects all of the public as well.”
Lorraine McManus has been selling cleaning products with her husband on the markets for 16 years.
The mother of three from Lichfield said the couple had already had to sell their home because of dwindling trade.
She said: “I’d say to people sign the petitions to save our markets, not just for ourselves but for the people who can’t afford going to the major shops. We need people to get behind the campaign.”
