A Market Square should be the central meeting place for a market town, which I believe Northampton is listed as being.

There is all the talk of out of town retail parks taking away business from town centres. Is it any surprise when you see how diminished the town centre has become?

The councillors should be looking at ways of promoting growth for the town centre and to bring Northampton back to its former glory.

I think that any decision about the Market Square should be by the people of the town and not councillors.

A big screen is not going get people to spend money in the shops or on the market stalls.

Instead you will have gatherings of people rooted to the spot, causing blockages for disabled wheelchair users, pram pushers etc to get to their destinations.

Think about this one dear councillors. A full market will be better than an empty one to maintain our heritage as a market town, which we have been known as for 800 years.

Listen to the people (the voters).

Reducing rents would encourage new stallholders and fill the market with stalls, as it used to be.

As for the bus station, I think that is best left for future debate, but I am sure the money for the big screen could go towards building a new one.
Ian Barker,
Manorfield Close, Little Billing, Northampton.

Give us fountain and more stalls
It is about time the borough council of Northampton served its citizens with what the townsfolk really want, not the ridiculous ideas from the out-of-touch councillors.

They are voted in by the electorate to serve the town in the best possible way and also to make the market town attractive and hopefully prosperous to its own people and visitors.

It's called trade and tourism, which are supposed to help the local economy where possible.

So we want a proper market square with a good, proper market with possibly a good, well-maintained water feature or even a fountain to brighten the whole scene up . . . not asking a lot is it?

Just imagine the scene of our famous Market Square . . . a water feature or fountain in the middle, even floodlit by evening.

The water feature/fountain surrounded by enhancing metal surrounds, then surrounded approvingly by benches or seats for the public to enjoy the relaxation of the nice setting.

Then all this surrounded by an again thriving Northampton market, full to the rafters as it should be by market traders selling their fare to townsfolk and tourists.

You have to speculate in life to accumulate and make things better for people and life generally, so the council should offer cheap, affordable rents to encourage traders back, therefore hopefully reviving our market and Market Square.

So the message to the borough council is stop the greed of more rent and more rent . . . bring back the full Northampton market to this once proud market town.

Given the chance, the market can live again, unless the council really wants to strangle the life and heritage out of this town.
Dave Allen,
West Paddock Court, Lings, Northampton.

It all started with pedestrianisation
One wonders what school Richard Church, Tony Woods and Tim Hadland went to. It's common sense that the fewer stalls on the Market Square, the lesser the income.

This was started by Tim Hadland paying £120,000 for someone to tell him to take half the stalls away.

It isn't the Market Square that is the problem. It's since the pathetic attempt at pedestrianisation in Abington Street, the aggressive traffic wardens and ever-increasing parking charges.

For 60 of my years, the hub of the town centre was buses coming into and around All Saints Church, dropping people off into the centre for easy shopping, including the market on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Now there seems to be more cars congesting around All Saints than ever before! So much for pedestrianisation.

We don't need consultants or councillors that are forever wasting our money and getting nowhere.
Derek Bandey,
Newnham Road, Northampton.

Rare chance to see pavilions
Your readers may like to know about the current opening of Stoke Park Pavilions. The two pavilions and colonnades are all that remain of the 17th century house built in the Palladian style near Stoke Bruerne, just a few miles south of the town.

Largely forgotten, the estate and pavilions are in private ownership but are open for a limited time to visitors till August 31, from 3-6pm each day, for the very modest charge of £3.

Access is from the road from Blisworth to Stoke Bruerne Road: at the crossroad junction with Shutlanger Road just carry straight on down a very narrow and normally private road.

The Palladian style was widely adopted in 18th-century England but it appeared here in Northamptonshire some 80 years before for the very first time.

The funding by English Heritage allows limited annual access to this jewel in Northamptonshire's crown and it is well worth a slight diversion.
Shaun Hope,
Rectory Lane, Milton Malsor.

Gordon unlikely to change course
All that Pandora said in her column (August 7) I agree with, but she knows, as I do, Gordon Brown won't do anything to change things, no matter how unpopular he is.

He won't do anything that would upset the politically correct brigade or the human rights lobby, and nothing will ever change from this government while those people have such a big say on everything.

What amazes me is how these human rights and politically correct people get in these positions of authority.

If Gordon had the bottle to do away with the Human Rights Act and stop this politically correct nonsense, he could punish the criminals properly, treat terrorists as they should be treated by deporting them to their own countries, whatever their justice system is and use common sense to make councils stop penalising the law-abiding with silly rules.

By the way, Pandora's right.

Jack Straw the justice secretary should be sacked, he's absolutely useless.
J Pendleton,
Lower Thrift Street, Northampton.