Tipperary charity shop appeals for donations as road works cause dramatic drop in footfall

A Carrick-on-Suir charity shop is struggling with a dramatic fall in donations due to regeneration scheme road works outside its premises prompting its manager to assure the public the store is open for business and appeal for donations of clothes, books and other items.

The area around the St Vincent de Paul Charity Shop situated at the junction of Chapel Street and William Street is currently a construction site with the roadway and footpaths around the shop dug up and in various stages of reconstruction.

Islands of orange plastic hoarding surrounding the works are dotted around the street and a narrow pedestrian pathway to the shop is marked out by tape.

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The revamp of the streetscapes of Chapel and Williams street is part of the €2.9m second phase of the Carrick-on-Suir Regeneration Scheme and are scheduled to conclude in August.

Both streets are closed to traffic while the works are taking place and there has been a knock on reduction in the footfall of pedestrians using the street.

St Vincent de Paul Shop manager Breda Tobin said before the works began on February 9 the shop received donations of between 10 to 15 bags of secondhand clothes and other items a day but now it’s dropped to 10 to 15 bags a week.

She said public donations have fallen because people find it difficult to access the shop. The nearest they can park is the William Street Car Park and signs in the car park currently confine parking to midway down the car park around the Nano Nagle Centre.

Breda points out the drop in donations has had the knock on impact of lower sales for the shop.

“The drop in donations is hard on us because we soley rely on local donations. We don’t bring in stuff from other places to sell like some other charity stores.

“The ripple effect is the St Vincent de Paul in Carrick-on-Suir will be affected financially if we don’t keep getting donations,” she explained.

Breda stressed: “We are still open for business so please think of us for donations.”

She advised anyone with large donations to hand into the shop to park their car in the William Street Car Park and call into the shop and a volunteer will go and help them carry the donations to the shop.

Breda leads a team of 14 workers in the shop. Five are Community Employment Scheme workers and the remainder are volunteers. She said their work environment has deteriorated due to the noise and physical disruption of the road works.

The shop was forced to close for two days for health and safety reasons after one of the shop’s staff opened the back door to find a trench dug just outside. Ms Tobin said they weren’t informed in advance about this trench being dug.

This disruption along with the downturn in business has impacted the morale of the shop’s volunteers and CE scheme workers and Breda fears she will lose some of her staff as a result.

Another issue is the pedestrian pathway to the store marked out by tape keeps changing. “I can't highlight a proper pathway to the shop because it’s changing every day,” said complainted.

She also pointed out the road works have damaged the exterior paintwork of the shop while dust and debris have gathered in the window frames which they are unable to remove. The shop’s recently laid wooden flooring has been scratched by people walking in and out of the store with gravel from the road works under their shoes.

Breda criticised Tipperary County Council and the contractor for the lack of consultation with her and staff members about the regeneration works since they began.

She acknowledged a representative of the contractor called into the shop last Friday to update them on the work but this happened only after a complaint was made to the council.

She says no representatives of the council or contractor met with them before the works to explain what would be happening.

They just received a written notice from the contractor about when the works would be starting.

“We are trying to be positive. We do understand that this work is about rejuvenation of the town. We are just asking that they tell us what are the next steps and plans so we can make plans around them We would also like to know when the works will be done. That would be great.”

The building’s owner, Bobby Fitzgerald, submitted a written complaint to Tipperary County Council last week on behalf of the charity shop and his residential tenants living in two apartments over the shop.

Mr Fitzgerald is prominent in the Main Street Business Initative action group that is campaigning to save over 20 car parking spaces due to be axed on Main Street in Carrick under a future phase of the Carrick Regeneration Scheme.

In the complaint, Mr Fitzgerald highlighted the “profoundly detrimental impact” of the road works on the commercial operation of the shop, the fabric and amenities of the building as well as the health, safety and welfare of the shop’s staff, volunteers, customers and his residential tenants.

He called on the council without delay to ensure safe, clearly signposted, and consistent pedestrian access to the shop and to the residential units at all times, repair any damage caused to the building and protect the building from further damage and prevent any further unnotified obstructio or excavation at the entrance.

Mr Fitzgerald has also called for “appropriate redress and/or compensation” for business interruption and loss of trade suffered by the charity shop due to the works.

The Nationalist contacted Tipperary County Council in relation to the issues with the regeneration works raised by Breda Tobin and Bobby Fitzgerald.

The council responded that in recent days Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District was contacted by the owner of the St Vincent De Paul Shop building outlining concerns in relation to the regeneration works taking place on Chapel Street and William Street.

“Following receipt of this email the Municipal District wrote to the property owner outlining that it was our intention to immediately engage with the contractor to investigate these issues and that we would respond once we had completed this investigation.

“Once we have completed our review and written to the property owner, we would be happy to provide The Nationalist with an update,” the council added.

Another view of the Carrick-on-Suir Regeneration Scheme road works around the St Vincent de Paul Shop.

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