Plan to transform market is underway

Local residents and businesses have had a long-standing aspiration to see the town’s market move from its current location in Valley Road Car Park.

In response to this, Calderdale Council’s Markets Working Group has agreed to recommend relocating the market to Lees Yard on the edge of St George’s Square.

The intention is to create a bigger and more regular market, increasing from the current two days a week to four, with modern facilities for shoppers and traders. Drivers would benefit from extra car parking as spaces would be freed up in the market’s current location.

Councillor Janet Battye (Lib Dem, Calder) said: “We are now finalising the plans to move the market and will be consulting with local people over the next few weeks, market traders, shops and businesses.

“When we talked with them earlier this year, the question they all asked was “what will it look like?”. We can now show them what we expect it to look like.

“The plan is for 35 market stalls to be located in Lees Yard and on the pavement alongside. It will run from Thursday to Sunday each week, with food on Thursdays, as at present, bric-a-brac on Fridays, replacing the current Wednesday market, a local produce market on Sundays, and special or themed markets on Saturday. This should add to the attractiveness of Hebden Bridge as a good place to live and visit.

“If we can finalise these plans over the next few weeks, they can go forward to Calderdale Council’s Cabinet meeting at the beginning of February. We expect it to take about four months to complete and our target is to have it ready to use for the Arts Festival in the summer.”