Arnold market traders likely to stay in Eagle Square until 2026

Arnold Market in Eagle Square
By Jamie Waller, Local Democracy Reporter

Arnold market traders will stay in Eagle Square for two more years under council plans.

Stallholders were first moved around the corner from their Market Place location in 2022 while the £4 million Arnold Market Place (AMP) development was built.

Gedling Borough Council has now applied to keep them in Eagle Square until the end of 2026.

Arnold Market is made up of stalls trading on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays selling products including fruit and veg, fashion and butchery.

The application will be heard at an environment and licensing meeting next week (October 1).

A consultation on whether market traders wanted to make the move from the market place to Eagle Square permanent was originally scheduled to take place in 2022.

The current extension is due to expire in December 2024.

“Changes in structure and staffing in the past six months mean that the planned formal consultation exercise for a permanent move has not yet been fully completed,” council documents say.

“This extension will allow the completion of the exercise and to ensure the correct planning and other permissions to be in place for a permanent move.

“The extension will give continuity and certainty to the traders and allow for the continued positive impact of the market economically and socially on the primary shopping area and on the town itself.”

In 2023 some traders told the Local Democracy Reporting Service they would prefer to stay in Eagle Square than re-locate back to the market place.

The authority said at the time that Eagle Square “has proven to be the only viable option for the market to continue to operate while the consultation for permanent relocation is undertaken”.