Plans to relaunch Sheringham market after fears it could be lost

It comes after town councillors and traders have warned the market could be lost as fewer traders have been turning out to the Wednesday and Saturday events at the North Norfolk District Council (NNDC)-owned Station Approach car park.

Town councillor Cliff Morris, who raised the issue at Sheringham Town Council’s annual meeting on Wednesday (May 24), said the market is “diminishing” – claiming only a third of the traders that were there before the pandemic were still attending.

“The market has been here for more than 40 years, so it would be a shame to lose it,” Mr Morris said.

“We need to find a way to attract more traders, and more dynamic traders, to bring a breath of fresh air to the market and give it the lift it needs.”

Mark Wye-Harris, a market trader who owns the Book Heaven stall at Sheringham market, said negotiations between traders and NNDC into how to “rebuild” the market are going well.

“The Covid pandemic saw a lot of traders across the country take up the opportunity to retire, which has created a vacuum of traders,” Mr Wye-Harris said.

“We need to bring everyone together to get the message back out there that Sheringham is a great place to trade.

“We should be proud of our market and need to support each other.

“We need to build for the next generation, using the knowledge and character of experienced traders to help them and make sure our traditional market isn’t lost.”

NNDC said there are approximately 60 to 70 pitches available for traders at the market, with some traders taking more than one pitch.

Around 20pc of the car park is allocated for the market, which runs every week on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 8am to 4pm.