Missing, presumed irrelevant

After an embarrassing first brush back in 2005/6 with the idea of town centre redevelopment which was noisily opposed and withdrawn, Greenwich Hospital regrouped to propose a more sympathetic plan.

In January 2007 the Key Stakeholder Consultative Group (KSCG) was set up by Greenwich Hospital to "provide a forum for consultation on a vision for the regeneration and improvement of the Hospital's core property within the World Heritage Site, in particular the Greenwich 'Island Site' - including the market". Chaired by the Member of Parliament for Greenwich, Nick Raynsford, its original members were:-

• Greenwich Hospital
• London Borough of Greenwich
• Greenwich Foundation
• National Maritime Museum
• Greenwich Town Centre Traders Association
• Urban Space Management
• Town Centre Residents
• Chamber of Commerce
• Greenwich Peninsula Partnership
• The Greenwich Society

The list of interests represented was brief but comprehensive. The first and second meetings went ahead and, as well as those interests above, were attended by:-

• Nelson Bakewell
• Hopkins Architects
• Communique
• Drivers Jonas (2nd meeting)

The sharp-eyed among those of you familiar with the market will notice a glaring omission - market traders. In spite of being one of the most potentially affected groups, no trader was invited to the meetings. According to the OFFICIAL Greenwich Market website, "Over 700 small businesses trade with us every year", so it's hard to believe the Hospital didn't think to include them.

I'm sure USM's founding (and only) director and KSCG representative Eric Reynolds was surprised to find no market traders' representative at the meetings and I assume only shock prevented him from expressing his outrage at this omission.

I am advised that the reason for there being no market trader at the meetings was that USM had informed the Hospital prior to the founding of the group that the traders were happy to be represented by USM. As far as I know, traders have still to find one other trader who had given their approval to USM's representation of them. No-one had been approached by USM for their approval. No market trader even knew that the KSCG existed until after the first meeting.

USM's claim to represent the market traders was indeed outrageous, but I doubt they were being truly duplicitous, Perhaps Eric was ill-advised by his people on the ground in Greenwich, though I'm quite sure Barmy wouldn't betray the traders and mislead his employer by suggesting that he had canvassed traders' opinion. In any event, I have no doubt that Eric would have been unaware of these shenanigans as he is a well-known admirer of designers and artists, which many traders at Greenwich still are.

Anyway, I'm delighted to say that when the situation was drawn to their attention, the KSCG immediately invited the traders to the table and their representative has performed the task with integrity and vigour.