Traders in Appleby have branded the timing of soon-to-start repair work on the town’s Moot Hall badly thought-out.
Repair work is to begin this summer and is expected to last 10 months. During that period there will be a loss of town centre car parking spaces and a road beside the Moot Hall will be shut off.
Traders argued that while the work is needed, doing it throughout the summer as businesses attempt to claw back profits lost during COVID closures is a bad move.
The building work is anticipated to continue until around April next year.
During this time, tourists will see the imposing town centre building covered in scaffolding while contractors will take over the existing Market Square parking spaces as a compound for plant machinery. The road running from Appleby Public Hall down to the Crown and Cushion pub will be closed.
Michael Dowding, of Dowding Butchers, echoed the views of many traders when he said he fully understood that work needs doing on the Moot Hall, but called the timing ridiculous.
“The timing is totally crazy and I feel they haven’t thought about businesses in Appleby. It will have a very negative impact when we want to be pushing the town and making it thrive.
“Builders were essential workers in lockdown so there’s your time to do it not when lockdown is lifting on 21st June and then doing it right through to next March.”
Newsagent Neil Dent called the timing diabolical.
“It means losing car parking which is the last thing Appleby needs with people hopefully coming on staycations,” he said.
Predicting a catastrophic effect on his family business was Chris Wilson, whose daughter Charlie Gordon owns the Sugar and Spice sweet shop directly behind the Moot Hall.
“It’s going to kill us, it’s going to hurt,” he commented.
The Moot Hall has problems of penetrating damp and in the main council chamber and plaster can be seen crumbling from the walls.
The repairs will address the build-up of moisture in the sandstone walls which has been made worse by previous repairs using external cement render.
Render will be removed, stonework repaired and repointed before new coats of lime-based roughcast are applied, followed by a traditional lime wash.
The project team for the Moot Hall work said: “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to restore the Moot Hall to good health.”
They added that safety was paramount in building projects so the scaffolding will be sheeted all round to protect the public from dust and debris while also protecting the building work from the elements.
The project will cost around £230,00 paid for by Historic England, Eden District Council, Appleby Town Council and other grant-giving bodies.
