'Dying on it's feet' - concerns over City 'falling behind'

There are grave concerns that Waterford City is 'falling behind' in terms of its retail strategy and economy. At the April session for the Metropolitan District Council, City Mayor Joe Kelly (Independent) spoke about a retail meeting he attended that described the city in stark terms. 

Mayor Cllr Kelly said: "The meeting raised some very important points, some of the key ones were lack of parking and indeed affordable parking in Waterford were an issue, a lot of our parking is privately owned rather than the public council, we've only 40 per cent of it. They also mentioned access to the city that's becoming a big issue with the North Quays development, the Active Travel schemes that are soon to begin, [its] going to have long tailbacks into the city. "

He continued: "All of these little elements play into the overall package into why the city centre may be falling behind where it should be. One person said to me that it's dying on it's feet', whether it actually is or not, it's not doing terribly well. It's a complex issue and there's no simple answer."

The Metro session was held at the Southern Regional Assembly, located between O'Connell Street and Great George Street. At the time of the meeting, one business in the area was in the process of closing down, while other buildings remain vacant. 

Councillor Declan Barry (Independent) commented: "There's a perception that the city is 'dying on it's feet', and I probably have to agree with that." Cllr Barry spoke about the night-time economy taskforce in Kilkenny, and how successful the scheme has been in the neighbouring city. 

He said: "What they did was get all the Councillors and Executives and the walked in the area, they went in one night and walked the area and they looked to see was it safe there? Was it well lit? What were the offerings available?" 

Director of Services Michael Quinn noted that Waterford had unsuccessfully applied for that pilot scheme.