'Angry' Northampton trader blasts council for rejecting and then copying plans to reopen controversial alleyway as a market

Mick Andreoli has criticised West Northants Council (WNC) for planning to reopen Emporium Way as an ‘exciting connection’ into the new Market Square.

Mick says he and the late Eamonn ‘Fitzy’ Fitzpatrick, who between them had 120 years of market trading experience combined, went to the council two years ago with the idea to move traders into Emporium Way while the £12 million refurbishment of the Market Square was ongoing. However, the idea was rejected, the alleyway was instead closed off to the public due to anti-social behaviour and traders were moved down to Commercial Street car park where they have since struggled to make a living.

WNC has recently revealed its Greyfriars Masterplan, which plans on reopening and reinventing the closed off Emporium Way as a market space.

A WNC spokesman said the reinvented Emporium Way will have natural light, new street trees, and places to sit. The council says it will remove the flyover road section of Greyfriars and the under-utilised buildings fronting the Market Square. This will transform this dark and isolated passage into a more welcoming way into the town centre, according to the council

Responding to these plans, Mick said: “We wanted to go behind Emporium Way. We know we could have made it work. If it was in Emporium Way you can go from the Mayorhold Car Park through to Emporium Way, then the Grosvenor Centre and on to Abington Street. A lovely flow.

"We could have had a brilliant market there, a permanent one. We wouldn’t have had to have been on the Market Square at all. They could have had the Market Square for whatever they wanted. But they never listened to the people who live and work in the town. Now they’ve realised the mess they’ve made and are backtracking. I’m angry. Not because they lost a market, but because they’ve destroyed a town. It’s the town I’ve grew up in and love. I’ve watched councils destroy it in the last 30 years piece by piece. Every time they’ve had grant money to rejuvenate the town, they’ve done the exact opposite. They’ve taken the entertainment route. We want shoppers. All they want is footfall, footfall, footfall but if that footfall isn’t spending money shopping then it’s no good. We want shoppers. They’ve scared the shoppers away. It’s absolutely crazy.”

Responding to Mick, a WNC spokeswoman said: “It was clear that very few of the traders supported the idea of using Emporium Way during the works, and that was for a good reason – it was largely cut off from people passing.

“There were no utilities present and at best we could have put 20 stalls in there. None of the food concessions or butcher would have been able to fit in the space either. However, in the future, with the Market Square reopened, it may be a viable site. If Mick would like to talk to us about having a stall there we would be happy to talk to him.”