Bookies ‘not right for site’
RESIDENTS QUESTION PLANS TO GIVE OLD CAR PARTS STORE A NEW LEASE OF LIFE
PLANS to turn a derelict car parts store into a betting shop have been questioned by residents in a Nottinghamshire town.
Proposals to bring the old Motormania site in Mansfield back to life as a bookies have been lodged with Mansfield District council.
The old Motormania site in Market Place has remained disused for a number of years and is described by residents as an “eyesore”.
But some have questioned the plans. Documents from Planning Potential say developers see a betting store as an “opportunity” to bring the site back to “productive use”. It also claims that reopening the building would be a “timely boost” for the town.
The plans say: “The site is currently vacant, having formerly operated as Motormania before it ceased trading many years ago.
“[This plan] represents an opportunity to return the ground floor to productive and commercial use.
“If the application is successful, a betting shop would operate from the ground floor.
“[It] comes at a time when betting shops face an uncertain future, with a number of household names announcing job cuts and closures.
“43 West Gate within the town centre was formerly home to William Hill before it shut its doors.
“This would be a timely boost to the centre of Mansfield, which has a number of vacant units.”
The Motormania branding has already been removed from the derelict store. At present the site advertises Colour & Curl, but it is unclear how this ties in to the betting store plans.
Derek Cole, 68, a “lifelong Mansfield resident”, said: “Anything is better than what it is now.
“It has been an eyesore for as long as I can remember, I can’t even remember a time when it was open.
“I don’t think a betting shop is what the town needs, though.”
Patrick Parson, 42, from Kirkby-inashfield, said: “We do not need another betting shop in Mansfield.
“There’s already a closed betting shop next door to Motormania, which shows there’s not demand for it. We’ve got a Ladbrokes and a Betfred in Mansfield town centre - why is there going to be another one?
“We need shops that are going to bring people into town, not carbon copies of other shops nobody even uses.”
Jessica Preater, 29, a clerical worker from Forest Town, said: “I’m confused, really, because a sign on the top now says Colour & Curl and not a betting shop.
“I don’t know whether that was underneath the Motormania sign or what, but either way a hairdresser’s or a betting shop is not what the town needs.
“There’s far too many hair and nail bars, betting shops and vape shops in Mansfield. After Covid we need to be able to recover, and none of these shops are going to help us survive.”
Earlier this year it was announced Mansfield was one of 101 locations across the country selected to receive a “level up” via the Government’s £96m Towns Fund to accelerate investment in their town centres.