LEADING promoters of Petersfield are calling for the ownership of The Square to be handed back to the town. The Square, and all the income generated from events such as the twice-weekly market, was taken over by East Hampshire District Council when the council was formed more than 25 years ago. But this week, leaders of marketing groups in Petersfield claimed The Square was rightfully the property of the town and should be given back to the town council. The call has been made as Petersfield Marketing Limited's licence to run events in The Square is due to expire on January 31 and its future has been thrown into doubt. It is known that Philip Haines, chairman of Petersfield Tomorrow's Town Design Statement Group, has expressed an interest in forming a group to hold the licence for The Square and put on extra events. Members of the Association of Petersfield Businesses and Petersfield Marketing Ltd are also known to be keen on holding the licence. But The Herald understands that East Hampshire District Council will ask for bids and business plans from those interested in taking on the licence. And Vernon Peake, chairman of Petersfield Marketing Ltd, who is due to step down in January, said this week: "I believe the town council should take back The Square without any cost as there was none incurred when EHDC took it over. This rightfully belongs to the town and it should be returned." He said the town council could generate income from it which could be used for Petersfield. This could and should be spent for the good of this town, he said, and not taken by EHDC to be spent as it wants all over the district." He said the town council would be able to appoint a town manager with a management team to run events in The Square. "The income from the twice weekly market alone over 12 months is in excess of £35,000 and with someone dedicated to running it many more events could be put on, generating much more income," said Mr Peake. He said maintenance would not be expensive with only hand railings, the roads and greenery to look after. In the past efforts to take over The Square have been blocked because of concerns over the surrounding blocked pavements. "This is a red herring from Hampshire County Council," said Mr Peak. "It would be time consuming but there would be no problem in lifting blocks and bringing electricity to every part of The Square." Backing his calls, Association of Petersfield Businesses treasurer Trevor Towner said: "We looked into this when Trevor Boyden and I were directors of Petesfield Marketing LImited. We did a business plan, researched it thoroughly, even down to taking over the two weekly markets which we could see could produce profits towards putting on events in the town. "We worked it all out carefully and then East Hampshire District Council moved the goalposts dramatically by dramatically increasing the price to £400,000." He said it could only be a good thing for the town if the market was given back to the town council, saying: "They have already got the staff to maintain it and so the maintenance costs would not be great." In October l997, the town council condemned East Hampshire District Council's £400,000 as "outrageous". Plans for the takeover of The Square were being discussed behind closed doors when EHDC told town councillors they wanted £405,000 for the market and a further £2,000 for the land on which it stood. In a report to fellow councillors at the time, Brian Keefe and John Holt said: "In view of the district council's assessment of the market and The Square, one must question their motives in seeking to dispose of them." The figures were produced for town councillors a decade ago by EHDC's land and property manager, Chris Fairhead. As the paper went to press, Mr Fairhead had not responded to The Herald.
