Four business operators in Thurles have expressed serious concerns about the designs for the renovation of the West End of Liberty Square which also includes several adjacent streets.
The plan is currently open to consultation and will close for submissions at 4.30pm on Friday August 30th.
Full details of the project can be found at this link here. (Scroll to the end of the page to view the documentation and submissions).The attached image shows, in red, the area impacted by the proposals.
The owners of Supermacs say they welcome plans to improve the visual appearance of the town but oppose the removal of parking spaces from the West End of Liberty Square.
John Butler, the owner of Bookworm Bookstore is very concerned about several aspects of the proposal.
In particular, he wants the car parking retained as he says most visitors are completing a quick visit and need convenient parking – the Chamber President is also critical of Transport Infrastructure Ireland for pushing for the removal of parking spaces on the grounds of improving pedestrian safety – this can only be achieved he says by the delivery of a Thurles By Pass.
Landscaping planned on O’Donovan Rossa Street may cause difficulties for deliveries to businesses and Mr Butler wants a proposed bus top on the street to be repositioned on the Templemore Road.
Diarmuid Moran, Moran’s Menswear, is strongly opposed to the loss of parking and says such a move will lead to a doubling in the number of vacant units in the town centre.
A detailed submission made on behalf of Stakelum’s also raises concerns about the impact the changes will have on deliveries to and from the business.
The submission highlights a lack of detail about footpaths and whether these will be dished or not to facilitate deliveries.
The Council is accused in the submission of acting outside it’s powers in proposing works in areas not in the Council’s ownership.
The Council is also accused of failing to conduct detailed trials in respect of changes to traffic flow and of failing to consider the impact of the changes on the ability of businesses to continue to trade if the proposed changes are implemented.
The project is being led by Tipperary County Council and to date a total of 9 submissions have been published on the council website.
