| Newbury Market Traders are offering their own suggestion for a way of encouraging Christmas visitors to Newbury. They want to install a large synthetic ice rink in the newly enhanced Market Place. This will take advantage of the new pedestrian piazza.
Steve Brind representing the market traders floated the idea at a recent meeting of the Newbury Retail Association, along with pump priming of £1,000.00 to get the scheme off the ground.
The proposal was enthusiastically received by all present at the meeting, and a further £1,000.00 was offered by Malik Azam from local Internet company Appliance Direct.
The initial proposal was for a five day period prior to Christmas which could possibly be extended if further sponsorship was available. Further sponsorship is being sought from Newbury Town Council, West Berkshire Council, Vodafone and the contractor undertaking the Market Place enhancement.
The idea was tried a few years ago with a small rink in front of the Corn Exchange. This proved to be very popular at the time.
The Market Place Piazza is due to be completed by early November, in time for the Christmas light switch on event on November 17th. | 
