Chapel Market proposed redevelopment plans

Chapel Market is a traditional street market located in the heart of Angel that has been in operation for over 100 years. Traders sell a mix of food, fresh fruit and veg, clothing, flowers, home essentials and hot takeaway food.

The market, a conservation area under the Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme, is open every day except Monday and has a capacity for 224 stalls. Although in recent years there has been a sharp decline in trader occupancy, which has been impacted further during the Covid-19 crisis, the market remains a valued and trusted source for low cost goods, healthy food and services.

Plans for improvement

In 2019, the council started working with the Mayor of London’s Good Growth Fund on an ambitious plan for the development of Chapel Market. The project aims to celebrate the existing characteristics of Chapel market while developing it as a social, inclusive and healthy community at the heart of Islington.

Following consultation with traders and the local community, initial plans were drawn up. However the project was put on hold, as the Covid-19 crisis began, and the Chapel Market bid was placed on the reserve list for future funding.

In summer 2020, the government announced new funding for development projects, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Islington Council took the opportunity to submit a revised bid for the Chapel Market Project, which was successful.

Although progress has been affected by the pandemic, the project is now moving forward, with the recent appointment of Carver Haggard as lead consultant of the project team.

Your say on your local market

The first step is to learn about the challenges and strengths of the market from the people who use it. Our goal is to retain features of the traditional retail market whilst strengthening the offer through a wider choice of goods and services and facilitating a new generation of traders from the local community.

We realise there will be many questions that traders, stakeholders and other members of the community may have about the project such as:

• How and why the plans for the project have changed, since the initial consultation?
• What will be done to replace the parking spaces taken up by the development?
• How will the work affect trading, especially during the busy summer period?
• What support/training will there be for traders during and after the development?

How to take part in the consultation 

The quickest way to let us know what you think is to fill out the online questionnaire by 11:59pm on 26 November 2021 when the consultation period ends. It should take around 5-10 minutes.

Click here to fill in the questionnaire

The outcome of the questionnaire, consultation events, and the monitoring data will feed into the projects future planning and we will be sharing our findings once the review is complete.

Do you need this questionnaire in another language or reading format such as Braille, large print, audio or Easy Read? Please contact us at chapelmarketproject@islington.gov.uk with more details.

What happens next

Our design team have led the engagement with traders and the local community through:

• One-to-one conversations (in person or via telephone where necessary)
• Traders meetings
• Engagement with shoppers at multiple on-street sessions at the market
• Meetings with local community groups (including those that can offer opportunities to engage with young people)
• Workshops for potential traders
• Information and the chance to engage online or via social media

See the latest updates about the Chapel Market project plan.