LIMERICK City Council is to decide if the proposed Retail Incentive Scheme should be adopted.
Currently out for public consultation, the scheme is on public display until April 12.
Cllr Jim Long said that while he had been “somewhat dubious” initially, he now welcomes it.
“However, I’m not convinced there are enough start-ups that would interfere with established businesses, and I see no reason why we could not have one- day markets and other events to make people come into the city; we don’t need the planning department to put obstacles in the way”.
Cllr Michael Hourigan referred to the state of dereliction in the city.
“Take John’s Street, Gerald Griffin Street Upper, parts of Parnell Street and Catherine Street, as well as Davis Street and parts of William Street etc – could we not revamp the shop fronts that have fallen into dereliction and upgrade them. This would enhance not only the vacant properties but entire streets.
“But what can we do about Patrick Street. We’ve called on NAMA to furnish a report but nothing has surfaced, and there are so many buildings that nobody seems to care about”.
Retailer, Tony Connolly, wanted to study the details of the Retail Incentive Scheme “a bit more,” and Cllr Diarmuid Scully stressed that:
“The idea is to disperse the scheme throughout the city.
“In William Street, it will extend as far as the new orbital route to Wickham Street, and extend the full length of the right side of Rutland Street. It will also extend to Denmark Street but not into Ellen Street”.
Pointing to the rates payable to City Hall as the main concern for traders at present, Mr Connolly added:
“Rates had not been a problem until the downturn in the economy, but now it is a huge issue which needs to be addressed”.
In favour of the Retail Incentive Scheme’s focus on “addressing vacancy in the city centre,” Richard Rice, (architect), warned there are a lot of properties that need to be addressed in terms of frontages.
“There are some very good shop fronts but others that are not, and we need to work with the traders to improve the situation.
“My daughter wants to go to the city centre shops rather than the Crescent Shopping Centre, but we need a unique product for the city – we should have a comparison in the mix of shops and we need to have vibrancy and choice to increase trade – look at Kilkenny and Galway, their shop fronts are rooted in the local art and crafts – Limerick streets, like Bedford Row, will see their businesses coming up to the required level. Existing businesses also need to be incentivised – take a trader who requires €50,000 to upgrade his premises – there should be an incentive scheme for this also”.
