WORRIED traders are urging councillors not to rush into setting up a farmers' market, claiming it could have an adverse impact on their livelihoods.

Although shopkeepers and business owners in Wealdstone town centre are to be consulted on the ambitious project, Harrow Council has decided to press ahead at the same time with preliminary negotiations with the organisation which could become responsible for day-to-day management.

Among those urging caution was Ron Lucas, chairman of the town centre's traders' association, who told Wealdstone Regeneration Panel that his members had serious concerns about the effects this type of market could have on their livelihoods which have already been hit hard in recent years.

He said during the meeting on Thursday last week: "We did a survey 18 months ago and 80 per cent of traders were against any market whatsoever. If they had to have one, the majority opted for a gardeners' market as a lesser evil."

However, Wealdstone ward councillor, Cyril Harrison, who initially approached London Farmers' Markets (LFM) with the idea, urged for negotiations to start between the council and the organisation so that Wealdstone can take advantage of this opportunity as quickly as possible.

"I think everybody has something to gain out of this," he said, adding that similar concerns about trade had been expressed prior to the launch of a weekly market in West Ealing last September.

"In West Ealing it was about regeneration of that part of the borough and it has proved to be a resounding success.

"We are not asking the panel tonight to decide on whether to have a market in Wealdstone but to proceed with the negotiations. We say let's get a move on."

The most promising location LFM has highlighted is a stretch in Headstone Drive, from the Post Office to Station Road. This would provide enough room for 10 to 14 stalls selling goods produced by the stallholder.

The idea is to restore the links between farmers and the rest of society especially in urban areas, said Nina Planck, who set up the first farmers' market in London in 1999.

Conservative Cllr Eileen Kinnear said she too believed consultation with traders had to be more important than speed and called for proper independent reports of the organisation's work.

"All we know about the London Farmers' Markets is from their own information, which is just propaganda," she said.