A vehicle free zone in the area surrounding the market has been introduced by the City of Lincoln Council following a recommendation by Lincolnshire police, after concerns were raised over the safety of pedestrians.
The City of Lincoln Council, in a letter posted to those affected, asks that businesses within the vehicle exclusion zone ensure that they do not have deliveries scheduled over the market’s duration.
Gemma, from Rolys Fudge Pantry said that when they received the letter they “booked the deliveries for that week a few days earlier to avoid any hassle”.
She added: “The market is good for business over all, we always see a rise in sales and we even have a stall up the hill every year. So this is just a small inconvenience when you look at the bigger picture.”
The letter also asked that residents do not have any work done on their property over the duration of the market due to the inability of the tradespeople to access the area.
Instead anyone needing access to the area, both residents and even care givers, will instead be asked to use the park and ride located at the Lincolnshire showground.
This change is however an unwelcome one to some local business owners who fear that these new restrictions will have a negative effect on their business.
With problems such as difficulty receiving new stock deliveries and customers being put off due to parking being just a few of the concerns.
Sam Abbot, manager of the Crafty Bottle said: “There has got to be a balance, we need to have access at certain times. The parking in Lincoln is bad at the best of times and now it’s harder to get new stock and send out orders from our online shop at the busiest time of year.”
He added: “I think some people get upset because businesses that are not from here come and benefit from the market, while some locals can lose out over the weekend.”
The council has said that they will not be issuing automatic business passes for those within the affected area and those who need one will need to apply in person. This pass however will only allow business access to the outer area of the traffic exclusion zone.
And with one resident having already called for the market to be moved to the Lincoln showground due to the fact that it is growing in size every year. It seems that some locals have had enough of the inconvenience.
Mr Abbot also said: “If security is such an issue, then maybe there should be a limit on the number of visitors allowed in at one time.”
The Christmas market ran from December 6th to December 9th, attracting thousands of visitors to the city every year.
