CITY Centre Renewal is one of six key areas which the new President of the Chamber, Kieran McSweeney has focused on.
Speaking to the Limerick Post, Mr McSweeney, the former President of IBEC Mid West and American Chamber Mid West said the current rates are set according to the economic environment which existed five to seven years ago”.
He is now seeking a proper rate reduction:
“Rents are plummeting and rates should correspond to this. We’re looking for value, not a reduction of 1-2%, which will be of no substance. Rates need to be reviewed to be in line with the economies which exist at present”.
Mr McSweeney also believes that the number of vacant retail units in the city also needs to be confronted.
“The Chamber is currently carrying out an exercise in quantifying the percentage of vacant commercial property and we estimate that it stands at approximately 20% compared to 12% in other Irish cities”.
The Ballysimon man has mapped out six key areas that need to be addressed to get the local economy back on track.
These are; City Centre Renewal, Shannon Airport, Local Government Governance, Sustainability of the Chamber, Festival proposals for the City/Region and Opportunities with Strategic Partners.
The chamber has identified a number of immediate priorities which need to be addressed including city centre crime, litter, ant-social behaviour and parking.
The chamber is now meeting with Limerick City Council every second week on issues affecting Limerick’s traders and businesses.
Mr McSweeney said:
“We have already achieved success in the area of parking by getting the City Council to change all of their one-hour parking zones to two-hour parking zones”.
He praised the Gardaí for their work on addressing crime, anti-social behaviour and begging in the city centre.
Working with IBEC and the American Chamber on a joint recommended position on the future local governance of Limerick, Mr McSweeney argues that the Croke Park Agreement will be a catalyst for addressing issues with local authorities as it aims to eliminate the duplication of services.
He said, “At present we favour an extended city boundary within a united local authority. Changes to local governance could generate €10million in savings.
Determined to apply his 30 years of corporate experience working with high growth multinationals such as Avocent International, Cybex International and Intel., the new Chamber President’s blog can be read on www.limerickchamber.ie.
