HEREFORD Buttermarket has two suitors sweet on its future.

Today, Herefordshire Council confirmed that the shortlist for developing the iconic city centre site was down to two.

Both were selected from the four parties that pitched submissions to a cross council panel last week.

The council received six expressions of interest in redeveloping the Buttermarket  following a national marketing campaign.

Two other parties dropped out ahead of the presentation date.

Neither of the two to win through are being named.

But both are due to present full business cases at a selection meeting in March.

The cross-party panel was made up of Councillor Patricia Morgan, Councillor Harry Bramer and Councillor Mark Hubbard from Herefordshire Council and Steve Kerry, Town Clerk to Hereford City Council.

Buttermarket traders are being briefed about the development proposals today Wed).

Herefordshire Council wants a Buttermarket that retains its traditional function while offering opportunities for small business start-ups and education.

Hereford City Council shares the same vision provided that vision can build on the history of the site.

Antony Hill, chairman of the Buttermarket independent traders association, said his members were now “looking forward” to being involved in the development process and working with the candidates.

 After years of stagnation, the Buttermarket is moving fast towards a fresh future.

In June, the Hereford Times reported that the Buttermarket could have been be back in the hands of its traders by the end of the year.

 A bid by traders and businessmen would have seen the listed Victorian site run as community enterprise.

By then, a refurbishment was on hold with work estimated at costing between £3 million to  £5 million.

Council  decisions over the future for the market - which is protected by a charter - have reached a critical point.

Over the past five years partnerships with architecture firms and Hereford City Council had been suggested and dismissed amid  disparities over budgets and visions for the site.

The council had even warned of the potential for a  freehold disposal of the site if the right circumstances  presented.

Just over a year ago, the council was backing away from the development with cabinet removing recommendations committing the council to that redevelopment if the

Buttermarket could not be transferred to Hereford City Council or “other interested parties.”

Then,  members were warned that the city council was “very cautious” about any takeover when its operating budget was compared to that of the Buttermarket.

But the Buttermarket in the hands of private sector shareholders was accepted as a “hard sell.”

The council had been actively negotiating a transfer of the Buttermarket’s   ownership, operation and future redevelopment.

Cabinet was expected to commit the council to continuing negotiations but on the basis that it would take on the redevelopment – funded through further borrowing – if a transfer could not be agreed.

 Instead, cabinet removed recommendations relating to the council’s responsibility for the redevelopment should talks fail.

Built in 1860, the market has suffered from limited capital investment over recent years and the building requires substantial investment to stay open.

The present freehold valuation of the site is estimated at around  £1 million,  with freehold disposal estimated at £1.25 million.

In 2011, the then Hereford Futures was asked to bring forward a financially viable refurbishment scheme.

The then cabinet member for highways, transportation and waste approved the appointment of Wrenbridge-Trebor LLP as the preferred developer.

A resulting feasibility study offered a number of options for consideration, but Hereford Futures indicated that a recommendation to finance redevelopment through borrowing would mean Wrenbridge-Trebor could not be appointed as it would breach European procurement processes that the project was subject to.

The council has been sustaining annual losses against its budgeted income stream from the Buttermarket.

An estimated 2013/14 income budget for the Buttermarket was £273,000 against a spending budget of around £150,000.

Further annual costs associated with maintenance and repairs are about £25-£35,000 based on average spending over recent years.