Cattle trading allegations "scurrilous, inappropriate and wholly untrue"
Cattle market 'too noisy' for town - Telegraph
A 130-year-old farmers' market, which has been at its current site since 1878, could be forced to shut down because its early morning delivery of cattle is too noisy.
A witness for the 130-year-old mart said the notice, which restricts animal deliveries and collections between 7am and 9pm, would have a catastrophic effect on business.
He said the move was part of a council plan to force the mart to leave the town centre site.
But lawyers acting for the council dismissed the allegation as "scurrilous, inappropriate and wholly untrue", and said the council was carrying out its statutory duty after an investigation into noise nuisance following repeated complaints.
The mart is appealing against the notice, issued in January under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which said the noise came from vehicles, shouting, gates banging and animals being unloaded.
Mart officials say unloading must be done early in the morning to allow for time to process animals being sold and taken to slaughter the same day.
The court heard from Arthur Corner, a director at the mart since 1984, who... said: "The council have a lot to gain by getting rid of the mart. It is a very valuable site."
Mart director and auctioneer Stephen Aitken also took the stand and accused the council of backing the mart into a corner over plans to move the auction market out of town.
He said at a meeting with two council officers - which he claimed was off-the-record at their insistence - they had said plans to relocate the mart on land at Humbleton Farm, off the A68, were not feasible.
He said one of the officers had asked for the meeting to be at the mart rather than the council offices, which was unusual, and for no one else from the mart to be present.
He said the officers suggested the mart relocate to land at Faverdale, which the council owned, in exchange for the land ....
As a simpleton I would make the suggestion that as the market and its practices pre-date the residents they ought to just put up with it, but then what do I know of local politics....