Council to test the pedestrianisation of Tullow Street over the next six weekends
One of the circus acts that entertained during Street Fest earlier this summer
KIERAN Comerford, head of the Local Enterprise Office (LEO), provided further information on Street Fest and future plans to the monthly meeting of Carlow Municipal District recently.
Councillors heard that Street Fest is taking place over six weekends on Friday and Saturdays, where Tullow Street was pedestrianised.
Three surveys had been carried out, with 62% of those who experienced the scheme in favour of it in the most recent analysis.
The majority of those surveyed said the idea behind the scheme, which began in early April, of bringing more business into the town, which had music and entertainment, was “very good” and “excellent”, according to Mr Comerford.
He informed councillors that what was “really important” is that they have found that there is no particular position of the public “on long-term frequency of pedestrianisation”.
The council chief executive Coilín O’Reilly and Mr Comerford met businesses in the last weekend in June to discuss the scheme and the “traders said it was very worthwhile. Some did very well financially from it and some didn’t”.
Mr Comerford pointed out: “The ultimate test will be to close the street with no acts on the street. The traders agreed that in August and September on Saturdays until 5pm only we would do this from the August bank holiday weekend. It’s very much about doing that baseline test,” said Mr Comerford.
“We are not taking a long-term view on it and it’s about making an informed decision. Our agreement with traders is that we will do some marketing around the next part of the scheme.” The LEO will then come back to councillors in October to have a discussion about whether the scheme will be held annually. “It’s very important that we let this test happen,” added Mr Comerford.
Mayor of Carlow cllr Fintan Phelan said he thought the “Street Fest was a great success. There was a huge buzz of activity on Tullow Street as people took to it. We need to work with businesses so they can benefit from it. I definitely think this is a positive development, but we should have a look at this move of no activities after a month”.
People Before Profit’s cllr Adrienne Wallace said that “the town needs this (scheme)” but that she was “wary of the budget”.
