Powys town councillors mull new indoor market plans

Llanidloes Town Council recently heard plans that would take two years to complete, costing more than £500,000 to convert the derelict English chapel in Bethel Street which has been left in a “pretty bad state of repair”.

Inspired by market towns such as Abergavenny and Crickhowell which have a reputation of having some of the best markets in Wales, The Hanging Gardens chair Fran Blockley said she hopes the new market in Llanidloes will bring more people into the town and encourage locals to grow their own produce and make homemade products.

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Mrs Blockley said: “We hope over the years with small scale production young people will take an interest to make a livelihood and stay here and have exciting things to do. We know it's possible to make a living off the land.

“It would be open all of the time. It would be nice to offer a space to come off the street and not cancel the street market. The joy of it would be one or two people managing other people’s enterprises, and it will be as cheap as possible.

“Everything will be local. We want to try and encourage local production. We’d love to persuade local farmers to take part.”

Mrs Blockley added: “I think we can do better as a town and area.”

Councillor Graham Davies, who is also the Llanidloes Charter Market manager, said the indoor market would be “ideal for us, especially on windy days”. Mrs Blockley said there could be a trial run to bring stalls indoors to Bethel Chapel when the weather is poor on Charter Market days.

Other plans include a larger catering and training kitchen to have school children and local adults and young people learn cooking skills.

Llanidloes Town Council agreed to show its backing for the plans by writing a letter of support for grant funding applications for the chapel conversion. However, Councillor Alan Bennett said: “We don’t want to kill off the street market in the summer. Fresh food may not be suitable for outside, but I don’t think we should discourage the street market. There will be a conflict of interest.”

Councillor Margot Jones praised the work so far at The Hanging Gardens which launched in 2021.  “What you’ve done is absolutely amazing. Well done. It must have been lots of hard work. Your enthusiasm is amazing.”

The Hanging Garden, a project by The Wilderness Trust, was designed to develop "new actions towards green recovery, resilience, and biodiversity enhancement" at Bethel Hall.

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