Dereliction in Tipperary's largest town is a major issue, says District Mayor

It was “very embarrassing” when people complained about the dereliction and the number of premises that were vacant in Clonmel’s town centre, it was stated at a meeting of Clonmel Borough District.
Cllr John FitzGerald said he was truly proud of the town but it was getting bad press and people were talking about the physical appearance of the place, which had become an issue.
He made his remarks during a presentation by council official Michael Moroney on Town Centre First: Clonmel, a strategy prepared by Tipperary County Council for an application for Government funding.
The council document states that “people need to be encouraged to make positive choices to use Clonmel town centre. To attract people, spending and investment, and to keep pace with changing habits and lifestyles, Clonmel town centre needs to strive to do better in lots of ways - what it has to offer; how pleasant it is to be in; and its ease of access”.
During the discussion there was a heated clash between Cllr FitzGerald and Cllr Siobhán Ambrose.
Cllr Ambrose said she was very proud to come from Clonmel and the council was working very hard to promote the town and encourage investment there. If anyone asked Cllr FitzGerald what was happening in the town, he should give them her number and she would tell them.
However, Cllr FitzGerald told Cllr Ambrose “don’t keep painting a picture that this town is wonderful because it’s not wonderful”.
He said he was very much in tune with what was happening on the ground and didn’t need any lectures about what was going on.
He and the other members praised the very comprehensive report presented by Michael Moroney, but he asked when it was going to begin.
There was an urgency and absolute hunger to get this initiative started and people kept asking “but when?”
“Long churning makes bad butter. This is very long churning and it’s going on for a long time,” said Cllr FitzGerald.
He knew Rome wasn’t built in a day but it had reached the stage when he was asked on his way out of a football match what they were doing with the town centre.
It was high time the council applied for funding from the URDF (Urban Regeneration and Development Fund) and high time they got on with it.
Cllr FitzGerald said he didn’t like it when people compared Clonmel to Kilkenny, with its range of shops and restaurants and the bustle that was about the place.
Clonmel was a superb, industrialised town with high employment and it had a lot to boast about. But its town centre needed to look the part.

However, Cllr Ambrose said that every town had its issues. No business would commit to an investment in a second floor of its town centre store, as Penneys had done in O’Connell Street, unless it was confident that Clonmel was a retail town.
She also paid tribute to the existing businesses that had kept their doors open during good and bad times.
Clonmel would have an tourist attraction similar to the Guinness Storehouse when the Bulmers visitor centre was established in Dowd’s Lane. Developments were also planned at the former Kickham Barracks, Suir Island and the West Gate, as well as the improvements planned for the town centre streets.
Cllr Ambrose also referred to the reopening of the lanes in the town centre and the magnificent floral displays. The council didn’t open shops but it did everything it could to encourage business.
While some business people had retired and shops had closed, she knew of new businesses that were about to open.
“We’re open for business,” said Cllr Ambrose, who said she was very confident for Clonmel’s future.

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Thoughts?

District Mayor Pat English said that dereliction was one of the biggest issues the town centre was facing. The dereliction in the town centre was very sad to see and something they should work on.
Cllr English said that mistakes had been made in the past and the town had to try and recover from those.
Cllr Michael Murphy said that O’Connell Street in Clonmel had 17 vacant shop premises out of 66, which he believed was the highest rate in the county. Businesses were “absolutely struggling”, particularly businesses in the town centre.
He had spoken to two of the longest-owned family businesses in the town and they were “in the eye of a perfect storm”, because of the cost of living crisis and the current economic landscape.
He hoped the Budget would have delivered for businesses such as these, because they were really challenged by the lack of disposable income and reduced spending.
Cllr Murphy said the council also needed to look at the way it collected rates; in the last fortnight he knew of two businesses who had received seven-day notices for the payment of rates, or else they would face legal action.
In his view this was the wrong approach.
He said that they needed to subsidise the town bus service and introduce an incentive to park in the town on Saturday, and not just at Christmas. They also needed to be innovative in terms of promotional campaigns, such as vouchers for town centre businesses, and examine all types of incentives to help businesses in the short term.
Cllr Murphy said there were positives, such as the proposed Penneys and Lidl developments, although the lack of movement on the Clonmel Arms and Market Place was holding the town back.
Cllr Richie Molloy said the issue they heard the most comments about was the town centre. It would take time for improvements to happen and funding was the biggest thing, although there had been very positive feedback about the reopening of the town centre lanes.
It would be a great start if laws could be passed to force the owners of derelict buildings to do something about them, he stated.
Cllr Niall Dennehy said that the Town Centre First strategy was quite ambitious.
“Everything isn’t well but hopefully everything will be,” he said.
Meanwhile, Michael Moroney had stated at the beginning of the discussion that vacancy and dereliction wasn’t across the board. It existed in some streets and not others.
While this was a challenge, it also presented an opportunity.
At the end of the discussion, Mr Moroney said he would take the members’ comments on board.