Popular South Devon market confirms it won’t open in Christmas week

The town centre market in Totnes will not open next week in the run-up to Christmas after the majority of traders decided they didn’t want it.

One trader said the extra days in Christmas week would have been a boon for the town and a boost for pre-Christmas takings.

But South Hams Council, which runs the regular open-air market, says that a trial last year had not been a success, and it has turned down an application to go ahead next week.

One trader said she and some others had been seeking permission to open up on December 22 and 23, and for half a day on Christmas Eve. “The stalls bring a lot of people into the town,” she said. “Next week would have been really busy because of all the visitors who have come down to see their families for Christmas.

“It’s a real shame that we can’t open.”

The market operates on Fridays and Saturdays, with a food and craft market every other Sunday. Last Saturday (December 13) the busy market had 60 stalls.

Cllr John Birch (Lib Dem, Totnes), who is South Hams Council’s executive member for economic development, explained: “After consulting with our market traders about a possible Christmas weekday market, a large majority did not wish to operate in the week before Christmas. This was due to an unsuccessful trial that took place last year.

“We have provided an extra three Thursday markets leading up to Christmas to tie in with our free parking days, in addition to the usual Friday, Saturday and Sunday markets. This means there has been an extra market day each week since the end of November. This has given the market traders additional opportunities for trading.

“We would like to stress that there was never a council plan for an additional market between December 22 and 24, therefore no event has been cancelled, as suggested. The application for an additional event was turned down as the council was not in a position to approve it due to its late submission and the lack of appropriate information.”