Strolling unhindered through a drizzly Shepherd's Bush Market, it is hard not to notice how different it feels to other London markets of a similar vintage.
Compared to bustling sites in Portobello Road or Camden, Shepherd's Bush has only a fraction of the footfall, and the traders are struggling.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council is drawing up grand plans for a comprehensive redevelopment of this strip of land between Uxbridge Road and Goldhawk Road, and began consulting again last week on its ambition to attract private investors who will reshape the market and add more shops, restaurants, caf›s and housing.
But even if the scheme is pushed forward, it will be several years before it begins to bear fruit.
James Horada, chairman of the Shepherd's Bush Market Tenants' Association, says stallholders are suspicious about whether they will be the ones to benefit most from the changes, and in the meantime have more pressing issues to contend with top of them all being the challenge faced by shoppers trying to park their cars anywhere nearby.
In December last year, in response to the pressure on the roads created by the Westfield shopping centre, the council introduced much tougher restrictions. Metered parking in Pennard Road, the closest street to the market, changed from a maximum stay of eight hours to just one hour a move which traders say had an immediately disastrous effect and sent takings plummeting by up to 40 per cent overnight.
"The effects of the parking restrictions have been quite obvious for everyone," said Mr Horada.
"Reducing the maximum parking time to only one hour was irresponsible on the councils behalf and has resulted in a tragic reduction in footfall and sales. One hour is not enough giving customers enough time to park, walk to the market, browse, buy something and return to their cars."
Mr Horada has fought to have the maximum stay extended to two hours, but claims the traders' entreaties have not been taken seriously enough by the council, which is planning to introduce a two-hour limit in nine parking bays in Pennard Road.
"We understand that there should be a compromise, and a generous compromise on our side would be two hours' parking," said Mr Horada. "It's common sense that if you have a shopping area, you have to have parking facilities. To offer people a measly nine parking bays is ridiculous.
"The redevelopment might be four or five years down the line if they decide to go ahead with it, but with another four or five years of this parking scenario, the market could be on its last legs."
Nick Botterill, the deputy council leader, said in a letter to Mr Horada that 'trying to divine a parking policy which enjoys a broad consensus and balances the needs of residents and businesses is almost impossible', but insisted the council had listened to traders' concerns.
But the feeling is that if the regeneration is pushed ahead, the end product may bear little resemblance to the market which has run alongside the railway tracks here for 100 years.
"The regeneration of this market is a delicate business because there are compromises to be made," said Mr Horada. "The council are not injecting the cash themselves but getting outsiders to fund this, and there will be concerns because these are people's livelihoods we're talking about.
"The market also suffers from weather conditions because it's open, and they could think about some sort of canopy to provide shelter, which would mean more footfall.
"Another thing is unloading - if you have an estate car packed full of goods, you will still get a ticket in a loading bay because it has to be classed as a goods vehicle. It just beggars belief."
Adding public toilets to the area would be one very welcome development, said Mr Horada, and creating a more vibrant mix of businesses might help to draw more people to this corner of Shepherd's Bush.
"If they bring in more businesses, they must be more diverse and they must not compromise the businesses that already exist," he said.
"But the parking has got to be addressed. And it's not a case where we can say we've tried and then let it go we won't do that, because we're talking about our businesses, and about whether these businesses work and we're here, or they fail and we're not here."
