Here's the latest major update 14 MONTHS into the £10 million works to transform Northampton's Market Square

Here’s the latest update on the £10million transformation works at Northampton’s Market Square.

Northampton’s Market Square has been closed since February last year, while contractors Stepnell carry out £10 million worth of works to refurbish the area on behalf of West Northants Council (WNC).

Speaking to Chronicle & Echo on Monday (April 22), Stepnell director Adrian Barnes said: “Since January we’ve been pushing on with the paving of the central area. You can see we’re now open from the Grosvenor to Abington Street. We’ve brought mature trees in and they’re now all planted. A lot of the street furniture and seating is being installed currently. The market stalls are all commissioned now, up and working. Each of the stalls has its own power and water supply. There’s been some really good progress in the last few months since we caught up with the media.

“We’re really pleased with how it’s taking shape. I think the stone looks really great and it’s blending in with the existing cobbles. Pretty pleased with the street furniture as well and the seating.

"The next phase is at the juncture with Abington Street. We’re putting in some bollards down there at the moment and then we’re working our way along the shopfronts on the south and west side of the square.

"We’re about to start laying the key stones to the water feature, which is a really complex section of the work. That’s the next big element of works.”

Asked about the completion date, Mr Barnes said: “We’ve always said the end of summer. We’re hoping to free up some of the areas in advance. The next big event I think we can look forward to is the stalls being handed over back to the council and on to the traders.”

The man in charge of the project at WNC, councillor Daniel Lister, also spoke with Chronicle & Echo. He said: “It’s really great to see Northampton start to change. There is so much going on with regeneration in the town. The Market Square, Abington Street and Fish Street public realm works, Four Waterside, The Old Black Lion, the Marefair Heritage Park, then we’ve got the M&S BHS project. There’s so much going on and what we should be looking at is this is an investment in our future of Northampton as a town. People are doing this because they want to see Northampton come back as a town that people loved.

"This isn’t just investment for investment’s sake. It’s us saying it’s Northampton, this is a great place to do business, come and open your shops here. Get people coming back into the town centre. We have to invest in our town and create a place we’re proud of.”

“This is us making it a place people want to come back to, especially when STACK opens and provides a million extra footfall.”

Councillor Lister went on to explain that details about pricing for prospective tenants are being finalised before the next cabinet meeting on May 7.

He said: “We met with traders this morning, we’ve had lots interest in the stalls. We’ve had a lot of interest from new traders. People wanting to do delis, Sri Lankan teas, food vans, they’re really interested. It all sounded positive. We spoke to [original traders] Hung Vo and Les Branning and Elliott Jones and they all seem very positive. We have told them the prices and they seem generally happy with them."

"We’re working on a cabinet report at the moment and that will be finalised when it comes out on April 30 ahead of the cabinet meeting on May 7."

While the works have been ongoing, traders have been located in Commercial Street car park. Many have struggled to make a living in the temporary location.

Asked if he feels he has done enough for traders at Commercial Street, Councillor Lister said: “We’ve given them as much support as we can. We’ve given them free rent, free rates, we’ve put on events, we’ve done as much as we could possibly do. We’ve tried everything. We have traders meetings.

"Commercial Street was the only viable place. Abington Street, there wasn’t enough capacity alone to have the market there. We appreciate it’s been a tough period of time for them. They’re keen to come back and thrive in this new space. We’re keen to have them back, making sure we get our existing traders back.”

Fruit and vegetable trader Hung Vo revealed in autumn that he had to sell his house to survive down at Commercial Street.

Responding to this, a Stepnell spokesman said: “It’s been very tough for them but we really are thankful for sticking it out. We really will make sure the new market is prosperous for them and their businesses going forwards. That’s all we can do.”

Mr Lister said: “I’m really sorry to hear that but...let’s get the traders back and hopefully be even more prosperous than before for them.”

The council confirmed there will be no compensation for any businesses affected by the disruption caused by the works. But Mr Lister did not rule out the possibility of discounts on stalls for those affected.

Stepnell and Councillor Lister both confirmed that the new Market Square has been designed with anti-social behaviour and vandalism prevention in mind.

Councillor Lister said: “The trees have been designed to not cast shadows. We have big lighting poles to create a lot of light, CCTV everywhere, the pop up stalls will be going down every night, the stalls are secure and lockable units. We’ve tried to answer all the issues around not feeling safe here. The flooring as well can be cleaned easily."

A Stepnell spokesman added: “The fixed stalls can be easily unscrewed and replaced. We have spares for every single part of the market stalls should there be any operational issues or vandalism. I’m sure vandalism will occur and we’ll have procedures in place to monitor that.”

The Stepnell spokesman confirmed that the water fountain will have a drainage system which will make it hard for it to become victim of ASB.