Video shows Chesterfield’s open-air market reopen as lockdown restrictions eased

Regular traders were invited to return to the town centre to work on the town’s general market on Monday.

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Further general markets are scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

At the end of last month, the Government announced that open-air markets and car showrooms could reopen from June 1.

All other non-essential retailers will be able to reopen from June 15.

Councillor Kate Sarvent, Chesterfield Borough Council’s council’s cabinet member for town centres and visitor economy, said: “Our priority is to ensure that Chesterfield town centre is as safe as possible for everyone – our staff, our market traders and the visiting public.

“We’ve conducted a specific review looking at how the council can help our outdoor market traders to start to return by introducing physical changes to the layout of the market to maintain safe social distancing and signage reminding people from different households to keep two metres apart and to regularly wash or gel their hands.

“The council will not be restarting the Thursday popular flea market at this stage.

“We need to first learn the lessons from how the general markets operate in terms of queuing systems, customer journeys and social distancing pinch points.

“We are, however, committed to restarting the flea market as soon as possible and will continue to liaise with trader representatives about how this can be safely achieved.”

The authority is also continuing to support retailers who are selling essential goods from the Market Hall.

Access in and out of the Market Hall will, however, continue to be controlled to maintain safe social distancing within the premises.

Coun Sarvent added: “As we move towards the phased re-opening of Chesterfield town centre, I would encourage residents to support our local traders on our general markets and at the Market Hall which will help us to restart our local economy.

“Shopping local is important for a number of reasons including supporting our traders from a financial point of view and reducing the number of miles we are travelling to buy our essential products such as groceries, which has a positive impact on our environment.”

The public toilets located in the Market Hall also reopened on Monday.

Social distancing measures and extra cleaning processes are in place so this may mean increased queues for the toilets.

The council also reintroduced car parking charges on Monday.

A spokesperson for the council said: “Funding generated from town centre car parking charges helps the council to cover the cost of a number of essential services, including CCTV, street cleaning and public toilets provision.”

Residents are reminded to use their residents’ permit, which entitles them to park for free in most car parks before 10am and after 3pm Monday to Saturday and all day on Sundays and Bank Holidays.

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