More shops, restaurants, activities and benches please!
RESIDENTS SUGGEST WAYS TO IMPROVE THE CITY CENTRE
WHEN asked what they would like to see more of in Nottingham city centre, residents have suggested a number of different ideas.
These include more things for families and teenagers to do, more restaurants and more shops.
It comes as a number of licensing applications for new cocktail bars or restaurants serving alcohol have been submitted to Nottingham City Council.
Among them include plans for a new steakhouse, a cocktail bar in the old All Saints shop, and a restaurant with a retractable rooftop bar on Trinity Walk, all of which could open through 2022.
But not all residents want to see more hospitality venues open. One woman from Sneinton said she would like to see more on offer for families and teenagers than for nightlife.
Tracy Miller, 37, said: “I’d like to see more things for families to be able to do. Bars are brilliant for Nottingham’s nightlife, but there are already a lot of them.
“A new bar or food place seems to crop up all the time. I think it’s good when I go, but it’s not great.
“They could do with more things for teenagers to do. It would help them to stay out of trouble, to grow and meet more people.
“I’ve got five children, my youngest is 10 and my eldest is 22. There could even be more places for people to learn and feel better in themselves.
“The city centre needs a library again soon, it helps out so many vulnerable people and a number have been closing in the city boundary.
“It shouldn’t have shut in the first place, and I’ve used them for years to take my kids to take books out, and I’ve even used them before to look for jobs and that kind of thing.
“There could be more activities in Market Square too. Everything seems to be used for food markets, which I think have extortionate prices.”
A man from Clifton is happy at the prospect of more restaurants, and would like to see a designated area of the city for food. Especially if fried chicken is involved.
Tom Keetley, 31, said: “There are a lot of food places, it would be good to have a food section or something. It would be good to have benches permanently in Market Square so people had somewhere nice to sit and it would fill the space.
“More restaurants are a good idea for me though, I love restaurants and everyone needs food. I’m a big lover of fried chicken, so it would be great to have more places like that, as well as any more social things.”
And one man who lives in Nottingham said the city could be more “European in its outlook”. He wouldn’t be against more restaurants coming to the city, as long as they are not big chains.
David Mee, 73, who lives in the city, said: “Nottingham could be a bit more European in its outlook. I think there could be more shops than say restaurants or cocktail bars.
“I think Market Square is diabolical at the moment, it was a lot better years ago. I’ve never liked it since they made it all concrete. More restaurants and that kind of thing has been done for the student population.
“I’d much rather have independent restaurants than big chains.”
It would be good to have benches permanently in Market Square to fill the space.