Put simply the Council thinks that the future for Kirkgate Market lies in it becoming a sanitised version of the Borough Market in South London. And this will mean the end to the exciting, vibrant ethnic and flea market that has grown up in the dingy area between the listed market building and the bus station. This part of the market is what they're about - not fancy food emporia trading on five-year leases in a listed building.
However, Leeds' bosses are too bought into the shiny Leeds idea. Here's Cllr Richard Lewis:
The strategy needs to be implemented if the market is to take advantage of the proposed Eastgate development.
Got that - the proposals are about John Lewis rather than about encouraging the fantastic, vibrant interchange that a market provides. I'm as foodie as anyone but the market shouldn't be some sort of yuppy magnet but a place for everyone. For the Somali immigrant and Pakistani mum as much as for the locavores of North Leeds.
I've written before on this - pointing out that it's the 'down-market' end of the market that is thriving, crammed with customers and full of fascination (and bargains). So it is both wrong and stupid for Cllr Lewis to get rid of that bit and keep the bit that's managed as a shopping centre rather than a market hall.
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