Market traders have said that Cambridge City Council’s plans to upgrade Market Square could result in the market shrinking.

The Council currently intends to install a lightweight canopy which would cover approximately half of the market, providing space for 27 permanent stalls underneath. There are also plans for a further 64 “demountable” stalls.

The existing stalls, the Council says, are “out-dated, unattractive and do not meet the high-level of design ambition for the Market,” adding that they are “smaller than most modern market stalls”.

Other proposals include resurfacing Market Square, and refurbishing the Guildhall and the Corn Exchange. Total costs are estimated to be around £12.6 million. The Council has revealed that it does not yet have all the funding necessary to carry out the changes, but has proposed an initial investment of £3 million to resurface the market. Traders have expressed concerns about the proposals and the effects they could have on the size of the market.

Trader Glenys Self claimed at a Strategy and Resources Scrutiny Committee last week that it felt as if the Council’s proposals had “landed out of space,” saying that the plans should have “started from the ground upwards”. She stated that 27 permanent stalls will be insufficient, causing a “huge issue” and potentially leading to the “shrinkage of the market”.

Self added that the 27 stalls plan “is not going to help the future of the market, we need it changing, we need to save the market through that.”

Another trader, Julia Cox, said the changes would result in a “massive shortfall in terms of space,” adding: “Everybody I have spoken to on the market, my fellow traders, everyone feels that same, no one wants to work from demountable stalls.” Cox explained that there are currently 33 traders working five or more days a week on the market, sharing 54 permanent pitches between them.

Labour Councillor Simon Smith, the executive councillor for finance and resources, has declared that “nothing is set in stone,” but emphasised that the new plans would not lead to a reduction in the size of the market. He said that the City Council was “listening and learning”.

The plans published by Cambridge City Council say that the proposals will help to “regenerate” Market Square and the surrounding area, and will “create new public space and market experience that will compare well with the best examples across Europe.”