Editing Covent Garden (section)

===Modern changes===
[[File:Apple Market, Covent Garden - geograph.org.uk - 1098932.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|[[Charles Fowler]]'s 1830 neo-classical building restored as a retail market]]

The Covent Garden Estate was part of [[Beecham's Pills|Beecham Estates and Pills Limited]] from 1924 to 1928, after which it was managed by a successor company called Covent Garden Properties, owned by the Beechams and other private investors. This new company sold some properties at Covent Garden, while becoming active in property investment in other parts of London. In 1962 the bulk of the remaining properties in the Covent Garden area, including the market, were sold to the newly established government-owned Covent Garden Authority for £3,925,000.<ref name=shep48/>

By the end of the 1960s, traffic congestion had reached such a level that the use of the square as a modern wholesale distribution market was becoming untenable, and significant redevelopment was planned. Following a public outcry, buildings around the square were protected in 1973, preventing redevelopment. The following year the market moved to a new site in Nine Elms, between [[Battersea]] and [[Vauxhall]] in southwest London. The square languished until its central building re-opened as a shopping centre in 1980.

After consulting with residents and local businesses, Westminster Council drew up an action plan to improve the area while retaining its historic character in 2004.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www3.westminster.gov.uk/docstores/publications_store/westend/CG-action-plan.pdf |title=Covent Garden Action Plan |access-date= 15 July 2016 |archive-date= 9 August 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160809013613/http://www3.westminster.gov.uk/docstores/publications_store/westend/CG-action-plan.pdf |url-status= live}}</ref> The market buildings, along with several other properties in Covent Garden, were bought by a property company in 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.coventgardenlondonuk.com/about |title=About Us |publisher=Covent Garden London Official Guide |access-date=28 July 2010 |archive-date=25 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120625123101/http://www.coventgardenlondonuk.com/about |url-status=dead}}</ref>