Council backs moving livestock market out of city

The current site reportedly needs £3m worth of repairs

Councillors have backed moving a livestock market from its home of more than 60 years.

Norwich City Council said Norwich Livestock Market needed £3m of repairs and farmers wanted a location that was easier to get to by road.

On Tuesday, councillors voted unanimously to apply for a change in the law to move it outside the city boundary, to an as yet specified site.

However, questions were raised about how the Labour-run authority had found itself "penned in" as a result of previous decisions.

Gary Champion, a Green councillor, said: "There is not a lot of meat on the bone at this stage and I have concerns about how much it will cost to relocate the market and what percentage of that we will have to pay.

"We have to learn the lessons from history and think about how to avoid getting into a similar predicament in the future."

The council hoped to "deposit the bill" by the end of November, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The current site is privately owned but leased to the council

Livestock has been sold at market in the city for about 700 years. A site next to Norwich Castle was used from 1738, until it moved to Hall Road in 1960.

An Act of Parliament from 1984 stipulated the authority needed to provide a site for a livestock market within the city.

Previous attempts to get the law changed - and allow a move - have been unsuccessful, but the council hoped it would now be able to get a mandate to pursue a private bill through Parliament.

The bill would ensure any new market would match the existing one, be fairly nearby and close to the A11 or A47, so livestock producers could continue to attend a local market.