MINEHEAD'S open air market will be back on its original site on Tuesday following a deal which has also secured much needed parking for the West Somerset Railway. But the agreement with Somerset County Council for the use of the Station Yard only runs until October. The twice-weekly market had been relocated to the Vulcan Road car park at the start of the season in May because the site next to the railway was earmarked for a new civic centre and library in a partnership between the county council and West Somerset District Council. However, since the collapse of the development plans a month ago, there have been increasingly desperate demands for the market to move back to its former site as town centre businesses complained of losing hundred of thousands of pounds of trade. "There is just no walking link between Vulcan Road and the town and people were going to the market and not bothering to go any further," said Minehead Chamber of Trade chairman Graham Sizer. "This didn't happen when the market was next to the railway and we have been pushing for it to return there since the plans for the site were abandoned. "Traders in the lower part of The Avenue have been telling us their income was down by between 30 and 40 per cent on market days, which only strengthens the case against turning the Vulcan Road car park into a retail complex." Market operator Brian Davies of West Coast Markets has been in negotiation with the county council for several weeks after initially asking to use just part of the Station Yard site to ease parking problems at Vulcan Road. "It will be quite an upheaval to move back mid- season because obviously we have already done all our advertising for Vulcan Road," Mr Davies told the Free Press. "But we know the traders have been experiencing difficulties and we're happy to do what we can to help. "Hopefully this move will bring a boost for town centre businesses. "We still don't know what will happen after October because it just depends what the county council decides to do with the land." District council deputy leader Cllr Bryan Leaker and Minehead Mayor Cllr Nick Messarra are among those who have been raising concerns about the impact of the Vulcan Road location for the market. l Continued on Page 2