Your views on County Durham's markets

Help our local markets to thrive. We're carrying out a review of our markets and would like you to tell us about the markets you go to and what you'd like to see at them that would encourage you to visit.

Background

Markets are important to our local towns. Successful markets support vibrant town centres and thriving local economies by giving people attractive reasons to visit, while often also providing access to affordable goods.

County Durham is home to a variety of different markets operating throughout the year and offering a range of products. We oversee nine markets at Barnard Castle, Bishop Auckland, Chester-le-Street, Consett, Crook, Durham, Seaham, Spennymoor and Stanley. Some of these are managed day to day by external operators.

There are also event markets such as the Bishop Auckland and Seaham Food Festivals, Christmas markets and the programme of specialist markets, announced earlier this year.

Why we are consulting

We are undertaking a review to understand:

how our markets are currently performing, compared to other local markets across the country
your views on the current markets that you can visit in the county
what you would like to see at markets in the future

We are also asking market traders, local partners, market operators and local businesses for their input into the review.

Have your say

The deadline for comments was 5.00pm on Monday 2 September 2024.

What happens next

We will use your feedback to create a report about our markets. This will include recommendations on what we might be able to do in the future to continue to develop vibrant and thriving markets across County Durham. We will present these findings internally and consult with you again in the Autumn.