Yes
Richard Wynne, Wynne’s Newsagent
That is the big question. First of all I’d like to say that all the shopkeepers welcome the redesign of the Main Street which was long overdue. We are delighted that after years of neglect the council has finally recognised that the street had been slowly dying as traders closed or moved away to relocate beside Dunne’s and Tesco.
This is a trend that has been replicated the length and breadth of the country and indeed started in England 20 years ago. It all came about as the largest European supermarket Tesco grew to such a size it realised that in order to keep expanding it needed to build bigger stores and this meant out of town developments. Why? Because they could not get sufficient parking for their business model in town centre high streets.
It is all about parking. The big stores invested millions in customer research, to find out what their customers wanted. This was good quality, reasonably cheap, goods, and plenty of easily accessible free parking. With the new design of Main Street they will have reduced the on-street parking from approximately 45 spaces to four full-time spaces and a further 13 which will alternate between loading bays in the morning and taxi spaces at night time. This is a very significant drop in the available spaces for our customers who just want to pop in for a minute for a paper, a breakfast roll, or a prescription. In fact it will be nearly impossible to pull up anywhere without getting a parking ticket.
So just what exactly will we have in terms of spaces? Well according to the latest information available we will have eight spaces from Xtra Vision to Hynes Shoes. These will be loading bays only until 10am or 11am each day then revert to normal parking. They will then be available as taxi spaces in the evening. From Hynes shoes to Leo Doherty’s menswear there will be four normal full-time spaces and two disabled spaces. From Leo Doherty’s to Staunton’s there will be a full time taxi rank of six spaces. And finally from Wynne’s to Parson’s there will be only be five spaces and one disabled space but once again they will be used as loading bays until 10am or 11am, therefore making them unavailable in the morning.
There is no doubt that the street will be beautiful as they will install two pedestrian crossings and a pedestrian plaza connecting The Humbert Mall with Bourke’s archway. We will have new street lighting, as seen in Market Square, complete with nice trees and seating for the shoppers. It is a great start in reviving the traditional Main Street. But I think it’s a mistake to reduce the parking so drastically and I’m not alone.
Most of the despair at the moment is because of the disruption caused by the works. Just at the worst possible time with all the cuts coming and the recession deepening, our already damaged cash flow has ground to a halt. Why is it taking so long? Why don’t the works continue over the weekends and late at night when the disruption to trade could be minimised? We the rate payers are watching our customers drive past and shop elsewhere, and what really frightens me is when the works are finished they will still drive past because they can’t get parking. The engineers and town planners will say “ah, but there is plenty of parking at the rear in both car parks and they will park and walk up”. Yes there is; but human nature, such as it is, has demonstrated that this is not the case and also it is not free, but that is another battle. The works are under way so it is too late to add extra parking, but maybe they could limit the stay to 15 or 20 minutes for a much reduced rate to encourage quick turn-around?
Now we all realise that “you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs” but be very careful that you don’t drop the basket, as we are all very fragile at the moment.
No
Cllr Ger Deere, Town Mayor
I strongly believe that businesses on the Main Street in Castlebar will not suffer as a result of reduced parking on the street. I have come to this conclusion after looking at the consequences of introducing pedestrianisation in many towns and cities in this and other countries.
While the upgrading of the Main Street currently under way will mean a big reduction in parking, it does not remove vehicular traffic from the street. It is not full pedestrianisation but will help to create the more relaxed environment which shoppers have shown they like on pedestrian streets. In a way, it is an attempt to have the best of both pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
Almost without exception, the introduction of pedestrianisation is opposed by local traders anywhere that it is proposed. Some years ago there was uproar in Galway when the city council pedestrianised Shop Street. More recently there was trenchant opposition to its introduction on O’Connell Street in Sligo. Now the system is praised by the same traders. In fact shop owners in adjacent locations have campaigned to have pedestrianisation introduced on their streets.
The fears of traders are understandable because, traditionally, shoppers expected to park outside the door of the shop they wanted to visit. However, the huge increase in the number of cars has made this impracticable. The development of shopping centres has changed shopping habits with shoppers parking in large car parks for prolonged periods while walking to various outlets. What is being done on Castlebar’s Main Street is an honest attempt to respond to this reality.
The street is almost uniquely fortunate in having substantial parking to the rear of both sides. Very few towns enjoy this position. But, we need to create attractive links from those car parks to the street by developing interesting mews along existing and, perhaps some new, archways. There are far too many unopened accesses and far too many vacant shops along the street.
Modern local shops aggressively competing with the multi-nationals will be vital to the future prospects for businesses on the street and will more than offset the loss of a few car parking spaces.
All of us hope that the work being done at present will improve shopping on our town’s Main Street. Every town needs to have a vibrant town centre. My sincere belief is that the work being done by the town council, together with matching investment by businesses on the street, will re-establish the Main Street as the heart of the town.
