Discussions between the council and disgruntled traders, who were shifted into a Northampton car park during town centre renovations, are ongoing to plan their move back into the town centre later this year. Stall owners have been set up in a temporary site in Commercial Street car park for 14 months now as the Market Square undergoes its £10m regeneration project.
“It’s all about reconnecting people having lost that connection with the town.” West Northamptonshire Council has said it is currently in the process of meeting with traders to discuss options for moving back to their original home. The Local Democracy Reporting Service visited the temporary market on Friday morning to ask traders what they had heard from the council about moving into the new stalls at Market Square.
“They’ve closed the town off for two years nearly and alienated all the people from Northampton.” Asked about the last year in Commercial Street car park, Terry O’Neill, the owner of a football memorabilia stand said: “It’s dreadful down here- there’s no footfall at all. People have given up years and years of their businesses because it just doesn’t work.