Councillors query retail survey placing

More than one Ennis town councillor said they had doubts about the findings of the Retail Excellence Ireland nationwide survey, in which Ennis was placed 61st.

The councillors discussed the survey on Monday and town manager Ger Dollard presented a report on it.

While some councillors raised the possibility of reducing the price of parking, the town manager said that reducing it by 10c would mean a drop in income of €70,000 to €80,000.

“Ennis scored very positively on town streetscapes, restaurants and pubs and the unique and positive image of Ennis as a town. However, it scored below average on car parking issues and on the town not being a ‘first choice’ destination for shopping. It is worth noting that other towns and cities that one would intuitively have expected to feature highly on the survey did not do so. The questions generally sought people’s feelings and perception of the town involved rather than being based on any empirical data. It is accepted that how people perceive a town is important and, where issues are identified as being below average, these require to be addressed.”

With regard to car parking, Mr Dollard’s report said, “In Ennis, car parking accessibility featured lowest of the 10 questions asked. The overall survey has pointed to the fact that customers/visitors view car-parking accessibility as more important than price. Ennis currently has over 3,100 car-parking spaces available, comprising 2,300 off-street and 800 on-street spaces. This includes two town centre multi-storey car parks that operate at an average capacity of 30%. The members will also be aware of the recently unoccupied 40-space car park at Friar’s Walk, located some 100m from the town centre which has now been converted to a coach park.”

The report stated that “first choice destination for shopping” was where Ennis recorded its second lowest score. “There is no doubt there is considerable retail leakage to Limerick and Galway, which has been exacerbated by the motorway completion and the opening of the Limerick Tunnel. There is an onus on us all to shop local and consciously make Ennis our first-choice destination for shopping.

“The council is working with the business community, as it is clear that the retail offer in Ennis can and should be improved. There is a very strong interest in Ennis from major retailers but there is an absence of the property solution that such retailers require and demand.”

He also stated that the council spoke to the landowners of Ennis National School with the intention of putting in place a retail area, once the school is relocated.

Councillor Johnny Flynn said in Westport, people can pay 70c for an hour’s parking, with a charge of just 30c per subsequent hour and that this should be looked at.

Fine Gael Councillor Mary Coote Ryan said she was “very, very disappointed” in the survey. “It’s very, very unfair to the retailers of our town – we have magnificent shops in our town,” she claimed.

She said she’d love to know whom the people were talking to. “They didn’t meet the real people of the town.”

Councillor Paul O’Shea said the price of parking is “crippling” Ennis but while councillors keep looking for a reduction, they are banging their heads off the wall, as nothing ever happens.

Councillor Tommy Brennan said he’d give the survey the same status as the IBAL litter league, which didn’t have Ennis in the top 30 in a year in which it won the Tidy Towns.

Councillor Michael Guilfoyle said the findings should be “taken with a grain of salt” but the issues raised should be considered.

Responding to some of the complaints about parking charges, Mr Dollard made his point that a 10c reduction in parking charges would result in a reduction in income of about €80,000.