Blackheath market trader says the town is being surrounded with roadworks all at the same time.

Express & Star

We chat to a longstanding Blackheath Market Trader who says the council should have spread there current roadworks out over time, and also offered free parking etc to traders while it's going on. He says it is effecting trade for some stall holders and shop owners.

Transcript

00:00So we're here at Blackheat Market and we're here with Trader Sean. Hello, sir.

00:05Hi.

00:06Sean, we'll try and hear you over the govins going on in the background.

00:10Not grateful, I mean, stuff needs to be done, yes, but as a Trader,

00:15you must be concerned this is going to affect your business, what's going on. Fill us in.

00:19Well, yes, I mean, it's not been too bad to a certain degree.

00:21As you can see, it's still quite busy around here.

00:24The only downfall of every single side street have got roadworks.

00:27If you'd thought they would have conspired and worked everything out,

00:31they wouldn't have had so many roadworks on. I mean, it's everywhere.

00:35Trade-wise, it hasn't been too bad.

00:37I have got to give a shout-out to the workers to a certain degree.

00:40They do keep it quite neat and tidy and they try not to work directly in front of the market on a market day.

00:45So your great release, why do all these works at the same time?

00:50I mean, I've just come down from Dudley and just a few hundred metres up there on the top of the hill,

00:55we've got road closures and everything up there.

00:57That road close up there, it's not just that road, every single side street to get to it is all closed as well.

01:01So there's a big number of details around.

01:03I mean, some of the work down here, well, we'll see what happens once it's all been done, the bus terminal.

01:08My argument is, if it's not broke, don't fix it.

01:11Yeah, yeah.

01:12What are they meant to be doing then? Why are they digging it all up? What's happening?

01:15Bus terminal.

01:17A bus terminal.

01:17A bit like a mini bus station, I suppose.

01:19OK, and how long is this going to be going on for, do we know?

01:2220 weeks, too long.

01:2320 weeks.

01:25That's a long time, innit?

01:27Yeah, yeah.

01:27That's it, the wrong time.

01:29Yeah.

01:30Our other work then would be, if we wish, Christmas slot, if it overruns, that would be our biggest

01:35trade.

01:36Yeah, that's the concern, yeah.

01:37So, you know, you were chatting to some of your fellow traders in there, and some of

01:43them have noticed quite a difference on the takings, yeah?

01:46Some of them, you know, went into over £1,000 a week down on trade.

01:51Yeah.

01:52That's a big hit, innit?

01:54Real big hit, real big hit.

01:55And that's generally from the people that just really stop off quickly to get bits and pieces.

01:59So one of the stores on there, for example, is Dave, and that's, he sells fresh cakes,

02:05he's got all the biscuits, cold meats, and so on.

02:08So a lot of people on the weekend, they're coming in just generally just for them bits

02:10and pieces.

02:11Yeah.

02:11And they just won't park up, just to run in for that as well, before generally.

02:14They park right in front of the market, or the lay-by, run in, get it, and back out

02:18again.

02:19So how long have you been a trader here then, Sean?

02:21I've been on here for about eight years, but I've been in the trade, well, since I was

02:2518.

02:25Yeah, oh yeah.

02:26All right, fair do's, matey, fair do's.

02:29So your question would be to the council, just, you know, why don't you get together and work

02:34out, do one project at a time, do one closure at a time.

02:38Well, yeah, and things like, I mean, they've given nothing back either, I mean, they would

02:42have given free parking.

02:43Yeah, good point, yeah.

02:45They could have abolished the parking for the, you know, for the 20-week period.

02:48Yeah, that's a very good point, yeah, to offset kind of any, yeah, very good point, actually,

02:52yeah.

02:53And the only other gripe is the traffic lights behind us, the main sets don't conspire with

02:59the sets that they put up.

03:00So, you come over on green, then you hit red, there's no point really, should have been

03:05synchronised with both.

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