Wholesalers in London have expressed concern that, with just months until the Olympic and Paralympic Games, they still haven’t been told exactly how changes to the road network will affect them and are being left unable to plan ahead.
New Spitalfields Market is just a stone’s throw from the Stratford Olympic site and the permit-only Olympic Route Network (ORN) for athletes, the media and priority vehicles will run past its doorstep.
Ronny Liu of Cook’s Delights and Sunnyfield Veg, has said he is “deeply concerned” about traffic and said it could affect suppliers, customers and distributors.
“The consultation has happened too late and has neglected the consequences for traders. It gives us the impression they don’t care,” he told FPJ.
However Jan Hutchinson, chief executive of Spitalfields Market Tenants’ Association, said she has been in contact with Transport for London (TfL) commissioner Peter Hendy and has been working closely with the market’s assigned Olympic adviser Krys Zasada.
“Most traders have been given quite a lot of information in the lastcouple of months. We have been worried about suppli- ers coming in. In the next month, there should be some- thing to give them a dedicated route into the market. It is abigproblemifthehauliersgetstuckoutside,”shesaid.
Peter Thomas from Prescott Thomas is one trader making preparations now. “We’ve been planning for six months... offering to do deliveries just after midnight and helping customers help themselves. We deal with problems every day, we’ll deal with this,” he said.
This resilience seems prevalent at New Spital- fields. Liu said “we have a duty to make it a success” and, although he agreed more details should have been put out sooner, Charles Rees from Vitacress said “I can’t wait... We know this is coming and we just have to react and see what happens.”
TfL said the freight timings are still being discussed but as soon as there is any clarity it will be sent out.
