GUEST COLUMN: Support the new look Mansfield Market, by Coun Martin Wright, leader of Mansfield's Independent Forum

The new market will feature more stalls with new bright canopies, a designated undercover eating area with new tables and chairs, new traders with alternative lines of merchandise are being introduced via the rent free incubation stalls and a new performance area to showcase local talent.

Now is the time for Mansfield people to back Mansfield Market, for far too long we have been overlooked in favour of our near neighbours whose markets were perceived as more attractive. The Independent led coalition believe the investment of £100K over the next twelve months will restore the vibrancy that once oozed from the market and attract new shoppers to Mansfield benefitting everyone.

Mansfield 103.2 will be broadcasting live from the market every Saturday and there will be a campaign of to increase awareness within the surrounding area. Come along, join the fun, help re-launch something you and Mansfield will be proud of for years to come.

Still on the subject of the town centre, Mansfield has been buzzing in recent weeks with the Spring weather, centrally located bus station and town centre car parking drawing people in to the shops. Last week, my wife and I came across a lady from Accrington in Lancashire who was visiting our town for a few days, she says shopping in Mansfield is a real pleasure, this can only be good sign for our town and its traders.

Have you travelled along Old Mill Lane, Forest Town recently? Most the trees that adorned the verges have been cut down, leaving it looking more like a war zone than an urban avenue. In the words of Nottinghamshire County Council, the trees were diseased and dying and had to be removed on the grounds of highway safety, reasonable people would agree that safety is paramount but to declare all the trees as dangerous was an enormous folly. There was no consultation between county and Mansfield District Council or the local district councillors, and as a result trees having Tree Protection Orders (TPO) were mistakenly cut down and will have to be replaced by Nottinghamshire County Council at council tax payer’s expense and take years to re-establish themselves. It is said by many that, “it’s good to talk”, this case illustrates why.