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an embarrassing first brush back in 2005/6 with the idea of town centre redevelopment which was noisily opposed and withdrawn, Greenwich Hospital regrouped to propose a more sympathetic plan.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

A bit more of a barney

I had a lot of emails last night about one topic; so many I've only just managed to sort out the full picture.

So it was true. I reported in "A bit of a barney" the terrible news that Barmy (my thanks to an anonymous commenter for that one) himself would be "managing" the market yesterday - and so it came to pass. Ben seems to have been shoved out to Elephant & Castle so Barmy has a free hand to screw up the weekdays as effectively as the weekends. How's he getting on?

According to my informants, brilliantly. He began by taking until almost 10 am to allocate half a dozen traders - finished before 9 if Ben's in charge. As always, the Chinese were dealt with last. The last trader to turn up (Chinese actually) was made to wait while he enjoyed a chat with some of the antiques guys before being allocated a pitch. Making a dog's breakfast of that simple task wasn't enough though.

One Chinese trader, who has always had the same pitch for years, was declared "regular" rather than "permanent", meaning Barmy could give away her normal pitch on a whim. He tried, she resisted and got her pitch. He continued the dispute later in front of other traders and the public (very much his style and the subject of a forthcoming post). If Barmy gets his way - and when doesn't he - she'll be out by the toilets next week.

He's in again today - can't wait to hear from you guys...

A bit of a barney

It has been reported that raised voices were heard in the market twice this weekend. I'm told the manager and his assistant were having a "spirited" discussion and that yesterday the manager was engaged in a similarly amplified conference with some of the market porters. Any information?