Traders at New Covent Garden Market claim that they face a battle to survive because of the huge disruption caused by a planned £2 billion redevelopment.
Britain’s largest wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market is being rebuilt as part of the regeneration of the Nine Elms area, on the south bank of the Thames. The scheme will see land previously occupied by the £600 million-a-year market turned into homes, offices, shops and restaurants, with work due to start next year.
But according to the Evening Standard, traders believe the proposed scheme will slash the space available to them, discourage customers during the seven years of construction and risk food contamination from dust thrown up by the building work.
Chair of the Covent Garden Tenants Association, Gary Marshall, told the newspaper that the future viability of many of his members’ businesses was in doubt as space was squeezed out of the market for “developer and government profits”, adding that traders’ pleas for concessions “fall on deaf ears”.
He said: “The situation is critical. We could be talking about the end of hundreds of years of history at this market if something is not done and we are not listened to.”
But the concerns were dismissed by the market’s governing authority, which said the overhaul was essential to secure its future.
The redevelopment is a joint venture between developer St Modwen Properties and construction group Vinci, in partnership with the management of the market.
The new market is expected to cost £130 million to build.
The plans to redevelop the 57-acre site were submitted to Wandsworth Council in May.
