Long-standing food trader in Northampton slams new £12.5million Market Square as 'NOT GOOD ENOUGH'

It is now six months since the new Market Square reopened for business, following West Northants Council’s (WNC) £12.5 million refurbishment which took 20 months.

John Greatrix, owner of Café Continental, spoke to the Chronicle and Echo about his experience in the new space so far.

He said: “I normally keep my head down and carry on, but I’ve done all that and they don’t take any notice of you anyway – so I might as well speak out.

“There’s a lot of weed being smoked, alcohol, and effing and jeffing. There’s weed in every town – they should either have zero tolerance or legalise it, because no one’s here stopping it anyway. They’re doing what they want, drinking Stella, effing and jeffing. It’s just bad for business, really.

“When you’re with a partner or with your family, and you want to come and have a cup of tea or something to eat, you don’t want to sit next to a load of chavs effing and jeffing and smoking weed.”

Northamptonshire Police had an initiative to crack down on crime and anti-social behaviour in the eight weeks leading up to the opening of the revamped Market Square, but that presence has now disappeared, according to various traders.

John continued: “I’ve made a big investment, got a brand new van, I’ve upped my game, and the council and the others haven’t upped theirs – and it’s just getting on my wit’s end now.

“We said it before they spent the £12 million: are you going to spend the £12 million and get better clientele? Because otherwise, you’re just going to waste your money. They’ve wasted their money.

“It’s not been good enough – not for the investment they’ve laid into it. I was promised the moon and the stars, and all I’ve got is a bit of dust and gravel.

“When they have events, they bring in extra food vans, which I don’t think is fair when we’re struggling here every day. There’s enough food vans here to feed any event, so why bring more in? They don’t seem to care about us. That’s my view on it.”

John added: “We’ve got a preacher now who comes – I'm all for free speech – but he’s doing it right outside of our vans, and there’s that many ungodly people there it nearly causes a riot. He was there for two hours on Saturday and they were effing and jeffing at him. I didn’t have any customers while he was there.”

A group of kids pulling wheelies on their bikes and e-scooters came flying past during the Chron’s interview on Tuesday on the Market Square.

John said: “Here they are. They come flying through at about 16mph, all balaclava’d up.”

At the end of March Leicester City Council – experiencing similar issues to Northampton – announced a city centre crackdown to tackle a number of ‘distressing behaviours’

Begging, street-drinking, the unlicensed use of loudspeakers and the setting up of unauthorised stalls, including those used for preaching, are among the issues set to be banned under new rules. The use of bikes, e-bikes and scooters in a way that could be deemed anti-social will also be targeted, as will unlicensed charity collectors.

Anyone caught breaching the new rules could be hit with a fine of up to £1,000.

WNC told the Chron it won’t be commenting on Market Square issues during the pre-election period with the public going to the polls on May 1.

A Northamptonshire Police spokesperson said: “We take the concerns of our local business owners seriously and would ask any market trader feeling as if their business is being negatively impacted by crime to contact us.

“In regard to the Market Square in Northampton, there is a patrol plan in place which involves police officers and PSCOs regularly visiting the area on foot.

“The Beat Bus is also regularly deployed to the location and partner agencies are also invited to attend so that any concerns can be dealt with appropriately. The next visit for the Beat Bus is planned for 8am-4pm on Tuesday, April 22.

“There is also a monthly surgery in Starbucks on the Market Square which is attended by the town PCSO, and market traders are welcome to use this an opportunity to air any concerns they might have.

“However, we would strongly encourage anyone who is experiencing issues to phone us when the alleged offences are taking place so we can deploy to it as appropriate.”