Shoppers at a Nottinghamshire town's precinct say it is "going downhill" amid frustration over the current state of the area. Carlton Square in Gedling was the subject of a failed Levelling Up Fund bid in 2021, though £350,000 of funding from a local enterprise partnership was then used to redevelop its car park.
That money, alongside £100,000 from the council, was also spent on CCTV equipment and a new pedestrian route to the shopping centre from Burton Road. But the shopping precinct itself is privately run and Gedling Borough Council's leader, Labour's Councillor John Clarke, says he is frustrated about a reported lack of action from its owners.
Councillor Clarke said: "We've spent about £450,000 on the Carlton Square car park but people say 'the council are useless, look at the state of this precinct'.
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"Well it's not our precinct. We're finding it keeps swapping owners, we keep chasing them, they promised recently to put £1 million in it because it's a good shopping centre.
"It just needs some upgrades. Some of the money we've got, we are going to put towards improving that, but we're improving other people's property and they're taking out the rents everywhere."
People in Carlton Square on Friday (February 24) agreed it was in need of some improvements. Kelly Rowson, 41, has worked at the Fresh Weigh fruit and veg shop for the last three years.
She said: "I was born in Carlton and so I remember when this square used to be absolutely packed. There was such an atmosphere here but now it has really gone downhill.
"You get to 1pm every day and this place ends up looking like a ghost town. It is a shame because this area was once amazing."
One of the issues which Kelly Rowson mentioned in particular was the state of the paving in Carlton Square, which appears to be uneven in many places. Carlton resident Lyn Smalls, 60, said she received an injury after tripping on the paving some years ago.
She said: "It was about six years ago and I was coming out of the florist when I went down on the floor. I ended up having to have a hip replacement and so obviously this paving is the main thing for me that really needs improving."
But P Sandhu, 53, said: "It is very difficult in terms of making improvements because we know that traditional retailers everywhere are struggling. You have to think of ways to attract new business to the square but I don't know what they would be.
"Obviously the place could definitely do with a tidy up and that needs some investment because people shopping here won't be going around picking up litter themselves. It is just very difficult now, but maybe there could be more access improvements and more could be made of the frontage, because it would be very easy to miss if you were driving past this square."
Jeffrey Rhodes, 76, added: "It is in a bit of a poor state at the moment and I think far too much money actually went on the car park. The pigeons round the square are a nightmare for making a mess and you can't do anything about the birds, but if you had people here who were on top of maintaining and cleaning the precinct then it wouldn't be a problem."
Waypoint Asset Management has previously been linked with the ownership of Carlton Square and although refusing to comment on who owns the building, the company said last year that it was working with Gedling Borough Council on the site's future. The company has been approached again for comment.
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