THE freehold of Wisbech Market Place is now in control of the town council and with an accompanying �25,000 from Fenland District Council to seal the deal.

Erbie Murat, town clerk, told councillors last night that with the exchange of contracts on the freehold of the market place having now taken place the district had transferred the cash as part of the agreement.

Mr Murat told the town council that in a separate agreement, both councils had signed a service level agreement to cover markets, fairs, events, maintenance, street cleansing and waste collection.

Under the agreement, to be trialled over the next 18 months, the town council will pay �60,000 a year to Fenland Council for the contract and in return receive �61,000 in income collected from the market place.

The town clerk said that the county council had renewed their pledge to contribute a further �25,000 to provide a new traffic management system in the market place.

He said the majority of people (58 per cent) had backed the limited access option and now the county council would be setting out an experimental order “to see how it works in practice”.

Mr Murat complimented the working party which had negotiated the transfer on behalf of the town council, especially the work undertaken by the late Councillor Roger Green in his role as chairman of the finance and general purposes committee.

“In the negotiations Cllr Green took the lead and made the whole transfer a possibility,” said Mr Murat.

“The success of the market place will be a fitting tribute to his memory following his sad loss in a car accident recently.”

(Cllr Green’s funeral is taking place today).