Norwich City Council seeks to relocate livestock market

But the livestock market could soon be leaving Norwich.

Labour-run Norwich City Council is pushing forward with its bid to relocate the facility from its current site near Hall Road, where it has been based for around 60 years, to another location outside the city boundary.

Councillors are seeking a change in law - which currently requires the authority to provide a market in Norwich - due to extensive repair works required at the existing site and a lack of financially viable alternatives within the designated area. 

Cattle at Norwich Livestock Market (Image: Chris Hill) HALL ROAD HISTORY

The cattle market was held in the centre of Norwich from the 17th century until the 1960s.

It used to be traditional for children to line the streets and pat the animals as they made their way past, with cattle from across the country making their way to the city centre, where they were sold alongside rabbits, chickens and pigs. 

Norwich Cattle Market sheep sale (Image: Archant Library) The market used to be held where Castle Quarter is now located, with hundreds of pens located around the castle itself.

READ MORE: East of England farming incomes topped £1bn last year, says Defra data

Norwich Castle with cattle Market pens in foreground (Image: Archant Library) But since the 1960s it has been trading on a site close to Hall Road and is now one of the last trading markets in East Anglia. 

Cattle for sale at Norwich Cattle Market (Image: Archant Library) Entrepreneur Graham Dacre bought the site from the council in 2010 but leased part of it back to City Hall for its continued use as a livestock market.

The council lost a High Court battle in 2018 after taking the controversial decision to surrender that lease.

This triggered a legal challenge by Norwich Livestock Market, which said the authority had breached its obligations to provide a facility within the city's boundaries.

Norwich City Council remains the leaseholder of the 3.25 acre site and is responsible for most of the repair liability - which officials say could stand at more than £3m. 

Rather than spending money on expensive demolition and asbestos removal work, officials want to see the market relocated and are currently considering two sites close to the A47. 

Protestors at Norwich Livestock Market (Image: Newsquest) READ MORE: Vintage farm machines compete in charity ploughing match

The Hall Road site has more recently been troubled by protestors who have been demonstrating at the market over the last few years.

The anti-meat activists have blocked trucks from entering the site and there have been angry exchanges and arrests on both sides -  with protestors and farmers accusing one another of intimidation.

LEGAL WRANGLE CONTINUES

Due to an Act of Parliament from 1984 the authority is required provide a site for the livestock market within the city.

The changes in law are hoped to be achieved by a new private bill which will be taken to parliament by a local MP - who is yet to be named.

Previous attempts to get the law changed and allow a move to go ahead have failed.

Members of the council voted unanimously in favour of pressing forward with the proposals at a meeting on Tuesday, hoping to deposit the bill by the end of next month. 

However, questions were raised about how the authority had found itself "penned in" as a result of previous decisions. 

Green councillor Gary Champion (Image: Victoria Pertusa) Gary Champion, a Green councillor, said: "This council was taken to court due to poor communication with the people who use the livestock market and it has taken a long time to rebuild those relationships.

"There is not a lot of meat on the bone at this stage and I have concerns about how much it will cost to relocate the market and what percentage of that we will have to pay.

"We have to learn the lessons from history and think about how to avoid getting into a similar predicament in the future."

Councillors have proposed that the existing market site - if vacated - could be redeveloped for further employment use and industrial developments.