LETTER: Mansfield Market is doomed

My family went into town recently to do a bit of shopping and went onto the market. 
We were not impressed. 
It looks as though the stalls are crammed together, probably to give the illusion Market Place is full. 
Well, it just seems to me, and others, that the stalls are so close that you cannot swing the proverbial cat!

Also, and this made me and my son shake our heads with dismay, there were council agents there, armed with their clipboards, and I felt they were talking to stallholders like naughty school kids. 
One of the stallholders, who we visit on a regular basis, actually told my son that he is totally fed up.
I believe no-one is listening to the concerns raised by the stall holders and that he was considering giving it a few more weeks, then if the situation had not improved, he’d be off.

I feel this is not an isolated case, as over the past two weeks we have been told by the stallholders we regularly shop at, that they are not happy. 
We, as a family, are now considering a visit to Chesterfield Market, where many of our friends do their shopping and give us glowing reports about the market there. 
It is only the cost of travelling to Chesterfield and wanting to remain “loyal” to the stall holders of Mansfield Market, that is stopping us from going.

I ask Mansfield District Council, and Councillor Stewart Rickersey, to wake up and listen to the shoppers and stall holders of Mansfield Market. 
Just what is there to attract shoppers to the town centre? We have many shops empty, also there are, in my opinion, too many cafés, too many nail shops and no large food supermarket in the town centre. 
In short, there is little to attract people to shop in Mansfield town centre. As a family, we too, are going to give the market a few weeks, then we will be off to Chesterfield!

Kevin Boxford

Ladybrook Lane, Mansfield