The Willesden & Brent Times has scored a victory in its 13-week campaign to keep its local market, but the paper says the war is far from over.
Last July, the market’s landowners were granted planning permission to build a development consisting of business and residential housing. The council had refused to find a new location for the market because the site was privately owned.
The Times called for it to adopt a moral obligation for the local community and its campaign gained momentum from its readers. A petition was also launched by the paper and in just one day it collected 1,300 signatures.
Each week the paper’s senior reporter, Lorraine King, who described the market as “a lifeline for many of the residents in an economically deprived area”, took prominent people on a tour of the market and even spent a cold winter’s day working there to highlight the traders’ strong dedication to the community.
Eventually the council offered an alternative site and planning permission was granted last month, but only for one year.
Willesden & Brent Times editor Tim Cole said: “The market is still running, on a new site that is popular with the traders and their customers.
It has a guaranteed home for a year.
We will continue campaigning in order to make sure that it will be given a permanent home.”
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