Cockermouth Case Study
- Cockermouth is located just beyond the western edge of the of the Lake District, 25 miles south east of Carlisle, and 8 miles from Workington on the West Cumbrian coast. It has a population of 8,500 and is part of the Allerdale Borough Council area whose main offices are located in Workington.
- The town developed around the confluence of two rivers in mediaeval times and has served as the market town for a large rural area, extending from the Lake District towards the coast, ever since. The town remains predominantly a service and retail centre for its locality.
- The town is relatively isolated from major population centres, situated just off the A66 trunk road and relies exclusively on this for its major transport links. It is 30 miles from the M6 motorway at Penrith, and is linked to Carlisle by the A595. It is however, easily accessible from industrial West Cumbria.
- The area has retained the character of a market town and is a popular place to live for those working in the industrialised west coast, as well as those employed more locally. The population has grown significantly over the past 15 years. It remains relatively prosperous in comparison to its western neighbours of Maryport and Workington.
- Despite its location on the Lake District’s edge, the town’s tourism industry is much less significant than that of Keswick, 12 miles to the east.
Cockermouth: Town centre and market
The Markets
- A traditional street market has been held in Market Place – the location of the current market – for many years. However, since the late 1980s, when there were regularly 30 stalls, the market has experienced a steady decline, in the number of stalls, and for the past year or two has usually consisted of a single stall. Market Place is located to the eastern end of Main Street, across the River Cocker from the main shopping area. The area has become increasingly peripheral as new developments such as Sainsbury’s (on the former Auction mart site) and the retail developments on Low Road have shifted the retail centre to the South and west.
- The street market was administered and promoted by Allerdale Borough Council up until 2000, since when responsibility for all Allerdale’s markets was transferred to Market Initiatives, Ltd, a commercial market operator based in Liverpool.
- In addition to the traditional market, a weekly farmers’ market is held Saturdays at the new Mitchell’s Auction Mart site at Oakhurst roundabout, adjacent to the A66 on Lamplugh Road.
Allerdale Borough Council
- The Corporate Services Manager at Allerdale Borough Council has responsibility for overseeing the Council’s contract with Market Initiatives Ltd and was himself responsible for Allerdale’s traditional markets prior to the contracting out.
- In the opinion of the Corporate Services manager a number of factors combined to bring about the decline of Cockermouth’s market.
1. Location: as stated earlier the retail focus of the town centre has moved away from Market Square over the past 15 to 20 years. This has affected not only the market but also the shops, with higher vacancy rates and higher turnover of shops in Market Place.
2. Traffic management issues. Following a series of minor accidents in 1987, the decision was taken to close market place for the duration of the market. (Previously it was open to through traffic). One effect of the road closure was to reduce the capacity of the market (from around 30 stalls to a maximum of 16 stalls), as the area available for stalls was reduced. A secondary affect was to reduce the trading hours of the market as the road closure order did not come into effect until after 9am – meaning most stalls were not trading until mid morning.
3. The establishment of Spook Erection’s Saturday market at Penrith, in the early 1990s affected the markets throughout Allerdale. The much bigger market provided strong competition for the local street markets, and also provided traders with an alternative trading venue.
Market Initiatives Limited
- Market Initiatives Ltd took over the running of all Allerdale’s’ markets in 2000 as a result of a tendering process. The contract required the company to continue to operate all markets and to identify opportunities for development and enhancement of existing markets.
- Market Initiatives are the UK arm of Groupe Geruad, an Anglo French company which operates markets throughout Europe. Its website claims that it is probably the largest operator of local authority markets in Europe operating more than 1300 market days each week. It currently has six contracts with English Local Authorities; Allerdale’s being the largest in terms of number of markets.
- Market Initiatives and the Borough Council are in agreement that the Cockermouth market should be moved to Main Street and that such a move is a prerequisite to its re-establishment. Some effort has been put into securing this move but progress has been delayed whilst the recently implemented traffic review is assessed.
- As well its responsibilities for weekly markets, Market Initiatives organises and promotes an annual “Continental market” which tours the country each year. This is a relatively large market of around 40 stalls of mainly French traders selling French produce. In 2002 and 2003 the market came to Cockermouth, and was set up in Main Street. This proved a major success in the market’s terms, attracting 8000 customers in 2003, but attracted some opposition from local traders (see below).
Chamber of Trade & the Cockermouth Partnership
- The role of both the traditional street market and the continental market was also discussed with Mrs Sue Hannah, a local retailer who represents the Chamber of trade on the Cockermouth Partnership ( the partnership taking the town’s Market Towns initiative forward), and plays a leading role in both organisations.
- Whilst there was agreement about the causes of the decline of Cockermouth market, there was strong divergence with the Borough and Market Initiatives about the way forward. The Partnership viewed the re-establishment of the market in its present location as integral part of the revitalisation of Market Place as a leisure/tourist area, and has included an action to this end in its Action Plan.
- There are concerns that the proposed relocation of the street market to Main Street would disrupt traffic flows (already a contentious issue following recent changes) and further isolate Market Place. Concern was also expressed about the Continental Market (which is not coming to Cockermouth in 2004), by certain traders in that it was also considered to disrupt traffic to an extent that was to the detriment to the town’s retailers.
Conclusions
- The plight of Cockermouth market demonstrates what can happen when a number of factors combine to militate against a traditional street market. The scale of the decline from 30 stalls in 1987 to 2 in 2002 cannot be overstated, and demonstrate the need for careful and responsive management and promotion to foster the continued health of existing markets.
- The experience also demonstrates that street markets are at least as sensitive to changes in retail patterns across town centres as the surrounding shops.
Market Town Report Links.
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