Letterkenny One Way

danniemcq

ok so i've spent over a year in Galway now and am back up in Donegal for a few days so i can see the differences that the 2 areas have, i've just walked up/down (whatever way you say it) Letterkenny main street and was wondering if there had been any more talk on makin it a no car zone. I know it was suggested a few years back and didn't go far at all, but seeing how Shop Street in Galway is and with the "new improved":rolleyes: layout of Letterkennys roads do you think it would be a good idea?

Civilian_Target

They can't even make the road layout permanent, what chance is there for pedestrianisation?? Seriously, think of the 3 local businesses that might loose out for the greater good of the town....

Litcagral

danniemcq wrote:

ok so i've spent over a year in Galway now and am back up in Donegal for a few days so i can see the differences that the 2 areas have, i've just walked up/down (whatever way you say it) Letterkenny main street and was wondering if there had been any more talk on makin it a no car zone. I know it was suggested a few years back and didn't go far at all, but seeing how Shop Street in Galway is and with the "new improved":rolleyes: layout of Letterkennys roads do you think it would be a good idea?

There was huge controversy when they made in one-way so I don't think this would be a runner.

muffler

Personally I think that the main street is too long for making it pedestrian only

foggy

Do they not reckon that the town centre will eventually be shifted down towards where argos etc are now anyway?
The main st is too long to be pedestrianised, there is not enough access on and off it to have people park around it and walk. The carpark at dillions would be redundant, and there isn't enough on the main st to encourage people to walk it IMO.

LKLad

http://www.donegal.ie/dcc/planning/letterkennyDPvariation2.pdf

This link will take you to the proposed plan for the town centre extension

Civilian_Target

Good plan that actually. Some interesting and very good ideas there...

byte

muffler wrote:

Personally I think that the main street is too long for making it pedestrian only

Yes, I agree.

jimmycrackcorm

I think two-way from lower to high road but excluding port roa would suit better. However there is no more than a feeble attempt to enforce parkign standards on the streets. I got stuck outside for ages the 4 lights waiting for a woman to come out from the shop to here double parked car.

munky

Since the new shops have opened down at the Cinema there isn't anybody around Main St. So making it pedestrian at this stage is a bit pointless IMO

LKLad

That's precisely why they'll have to make it pedestrian.

The next phase of the retail park currently under construction has an 80,000 sq foot Dunnes, M+S, River Island, (I think a 2 storey McElhinneys) and around 10 other units so the main street will be finished as a retail centre.

I have seen the pics of the new centre - it looks impressive.

Because of Dillons car park and the Blaney's plans for the Central they'll only be a ble to pedestrianise from the corner of Church lane to the Oliver Plunkett.

I'd give it 3 years before it comes in.

munky

Dunnes are goin up against M+S, I'm kinda surprised.

YEah thats really gonna take everything out of the town, maybe now they'll turn the Main St into a pub street=)

muffler

Love the sig munky. Wouldnt it just be great to attach that to all emails going toMicrosoft:)

Civilian_Target

munky wrote:

Dunnes are goin up against M+S, I'm kinda surprised.

Why? Theres a Dunnes and a Marks & Spencer in both the Foyleside and in the Blanchardstown Centre in Dublin.

LKLad

The M+S stores is only going to be in the region of 20,000 sq feet. Dunnes will be 80,000 sq feet so M+S will be food only.
Suits me, I like their stuff though supervalu won't be best pleased with another food store alongside.

byte

Are M&S and Dunnes somehow related? The only reason I ask is because one uses St Bernard, the other St Michael to brand their stuff.

I'd prefer if M&S opened a clothes outlet instead of a food only outlet. There is sufficient food supermarkets already I reckon with Tesco, Lidl, Aldi, SuperValu, Dunnes Stores and Costcutter. I do miss Iceland though

munky

Civilian_Target wrote:

Why? Theres a Dunnes and a Marks & Spencer in both the Foyleside and in the Blanchardstown Centre in Dublin.

Well you see
1. I didn't know that
2. Both those places are in/around cities, not a relativly small town.
Its just that the two shops are very alike.

jimmycrackcorm

Theres a correlation between M&S and the number of apartments available nearby.

danniemcq

well now i'm confused? jimmycrackcorn explain yourself

munky

jimmycrackcorm wrote:

Theres a correlation between M&S and the number of apartments available nearby.

Possitive or negative?

donegalman1

The main STreet apparently was made one way in the wrong direction because of the location of all the emergency services at the North of the Town. Pedestrianisation is supposed to take place between Patrick Gildeas (Church Lane) and the old Music Centre at the Square on a trial basis later this year. Though as usual the Taxis will dictate. On that anyone ever see a taxi on the rank outside Saras and the Pulse?

Still try driving anywhere at the weekend night and you'd be fooled into thinking its all a pedestrian zone.

jimmycrackcorm

danniemcq wrote:

well now i'm confused? jimmycrackcorn explain yourself

M&S suits single young professionals ( just look at their food range) - hence you'll find M&S in areas that are expanding economically, which usually have more single white female apartments.

I've come to this conclusion solely by observing the totty in the food isle.

jimmycrackcorm

donegalman1 wrote:

The main STreet apparently was made one way in the wrong direction because of the location of all the emergency services at the North of the Town. Pedestrianisation is supposed to take place between Patrick Gildeas (Church Lane) and the old Music Centre at the Square on a trial basis later this year. Though as usual the Taxis will dictate. On that anyone ever see a taxi on the rank outside Saras and the Pulse?

Still try driving anywhere at the weekend night and you'd be fooled into thinking its all a pedestrian zone.

I'll bet Patrick Gildea will object to losing his 6 series parking space. Now where can I get an all-day parking exemption?

donegalman1

The one way was made in the wrong direction because of the correlation between the emergency services in the North and the rest of us. Anyone find its a harder town to get out of than get in because of this. Anyway pedestrians will have full use of Church Lane to Market SQ later this year... if the taxis allow. Maybe someone will point out the new ranks on Port Road and we'll all realise why they were put there.

Conspiracy theory..... are all these ranks being provided to force you and me and all the tourists (we never see) to park in multi stories.... and yeah whatever happened to the greenparty's objection to the Hospital carpark deal...or was it only an objection til they got a seat on council. Hark they are Green enough to become Fianna Fail Councillors soon.

Single white totty please queue on the port Road..... The Ranks need you.

Damien Blake

donegalman1 wrote:

Pedestrianisation is supposed to take place between Patrick Gildeas (Church Lane) and the old Music Centre at the Square on a trial basis later this year.

That's the first I've heard about that! The problem with Pedestrianisation of an area is that we need a critical mass of people before it can be effective. The layout of the Main Street wouldn't facilitate this. I know from speaking to Councillors in Derry that they're not happy with the system in Guildhall Sq, for much the same reasons.

LKLad

Damien Blake wrote:

That's the first I've heard about that! The problem with Pedestrianisation of an area is that we need a critical mass of people before it can be effective. The layout of the Main Street wouldn't facilitate this. I know from speaking to Councillors in Derry that they're not happy with the system in Guildhall Sq, for much the same reasons.

Why not trial it for 6 months and see how it does? It may make it more attracive for people to come in from the retail parks and use the town centre. I think in the long term that if the main street doesn't take some sort of action then the whole debate will be irrelevant as all the main retail outlets will all be out of town.

I know the council is looking at the whole town centre extension area but this is a case of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted if ever there was one. The new lands should have restricted their retail use to bulky goods for the first couple of years, but now PJ Doherty has such a big land bank I think the Main street can forget about being a viable retail area.

Also a few friends were staying at the Radisson and they were amazed that they had to walk over gravel to get to the town centre. Maybe we should sort the basics out first.

Damien Blake

LKLad wrote:

Why not trial it for 6 months and see how it does? It may make it more attracive for people to come in from the retail parks and use the town centre. I think in the long term that if the main street doesn't take some sort of action then the whole debate will be irrelevant as all the main retail outlets will all be out of town.

I'd take the same line on that as I did on the changing of the one-way system through the town centre extension area- we have to use our best judgement. I opposed a "trial" system in that area, as nobody could convince us of the benefits to be gained from messing with a very effective system, even in the short term. The same is true, I feel, for the pedestrianisation. We would be more likely to put people off using the area at all.

Another point to remember is that there is nobody formally calling for pedestrianisation, even on a trial basis. I received an 18 page document from the Chamber of Commerce, regarding the public consultation period for the new plans for the extension area, and they don't mention it at all.

LKLad wrote:

I know the council is looking at the whole town centre extension area but this is a case of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted if ever there was one. The new lands should have restricted their retail use to bulky goods for the first couple of years, but now PJ Doherty has such a big land bank I think the Main street can forget about being a viable retail area.

Letterkenny is in a fairly unique position, when compared to other towns. The Neil Blaney and Paddy Harte Roads have opened up substantial new lands which are now being developed, whereas other towns are seeing this development take place further from the town centre. This is something we should be looking to build on- we have the opportunity to extend our core shopping area, without damaging the traditional town centre. That was the intention of the proposed plan, which will be consider by the Council at our March meeting (on the 8th).

LKLad wrote:

Also a few friends were staying at the Radisson and they were amazed that they had to walk over gravel to get to the town centre. Maybe we should sort the basics out first.

I've raised this issue a number of times, with particular reference to the Council offices. We've built a great Public Services Centre, but placed it away from where people live, and made it almost impossible to get to without a car. The state of footpaths is absolutely atrocious. I have been assured that the council will be taking enforcement proceedings against any developments that fail to complete their properties as required, including footpaths.

muffler

Another newbie, Damien Blake. Welcome to the boards Mr Mayor and particularly to the North West forum.

Delighted to have someone from the political scene on board and please visit regularly.

No doubt you will be in a position to give us all the inside info

Damien Blake

muffler wrote:

Another newbie, Damien Blake. Welcome to the boards Mr Mayor and particularly to the North West forum.

Delighted to have someone from the political scene on board and please visit regularly.

No doubt you will be in a position to give us all the inside info

I don't know how much I can contribute- I've been reading the forums here for the the last week or so and I've picked up more info than I think I could contribute! I'll be keeping an eye on the NW forum here, hopefully I can be of some help.

I found this site after someone linked to my website/blog, and have found it very interesting so far. If you've any questions, I'll answer them as best I can.

LKLad

Damien - what is the story with this plan?
I see the chamber of commerce are out against it and want Pearse road developed first? What will happen at the next council meeting?

Damien Blake

LKLad wrote:

Damien - what is the story with this plan?
I see the chamber of commerce are out against it and want Pearse road developed first? What will happen at the next council meeting?

In the 2003-2009 Development Plan (two huge documents which set out all the physical development goals and policies for the town) it was decided that the extension area should be considered as a specific area, and have it's own plan drawn up. As such, it is only given minor treatment in the development plan, with much of the detail proposed in this plan now under consideration.

The point of this current plan is to consider how best to drive development in this area, to benefit the entire town. As such, it contains recommendations on public spaces, open walkways, pedestration linkages with the traditional town centre and new roadways to bring people through the area into the town.

If we don't accept this plan (or some variant- we can amend it at the next meeting before accepting it), development in the extension area will continue to be considered on its own merits, rather than as part of an overall, cohesive strategy.

I believe the Chamber of Commerce's objections to this plans are poorly founded. Yes, they have concerns about the existing town centre. I do too, very definitely. But, if we don't put a plan in place for this area of extension, we run the risk of seeing development become even more imbalanced towards this area.

We need to work on an overall strategy for Letterkenny's retail sector. That won't be easy, but I believe it can best be achieved after putting a plan in place to deal with the development of the extension area. The needs of the Main Street area are different to that of the extension area; we don't need to ignore one to ensure the other prospers.

Civilian_Target

Damien Blake wrote:

That's the first I've heard about that! The problem with Pedestrianisation of an area is that we need a critical mass of people before it can be effective. The layout of the Main Street wouldn't facilitate this. I know from speaking to Councillors in Derry that they're not happy with the system in Guildhall Sq, for much the same reasons.

Well, I don't know why they're unhappy?! I think the guildhall pedestrian area is great - it's traffic applications would have been minimal anyway given that there's a much bigger road parallel to it, and its great to walk around in because there's freedom of movement, unlike in say, Grafton street where it's just bunged!

I really do think pedestrianised areas have great environmental effect and having seen the town plan that was posted here a few weeks back, it really looks very promising, even if it was only partially implemented. A pedestrianised area along with some redevlopment down by the community centre might breathe some life into that part of town again!

Damien Blake

Civilian_Target wrote:

Well, I don't know why they're unhappy?! I think the guildhall pedestrian area is great - it's traffic applications would have been minimal anyway given that there's a much bigger road parallel to it, and its great to walk around in because there's freedom of movement, unlike in say, Grafton street where it's just bunged!

It's an issue that comes up regularly in there. There's a concern that people aren't bothered to come down from the Foylseside and Richmond Centre, and would be more likely to go down there if they could drive.

Civilian_Target wrote:

I really do think pedestrianised areas have great environmental effect and having seen the town plan that was posted here a few weeks back, it really looks very promising, even if it was only partially implemented. A pedestrianised area along with some redevlopment down by the community centre might breathe some life into that part of town again!

The new plan is very strong on pedestrian movements. It works to maximise pedestrian movement within the new extension area, from there back into the main street and from the River Swilly through to the Town Park (and onwards to the new park at Ballymacool). I support your points about the benefits of pedestrianisation, from an environmental and health point, but I don't think it would be good for business on the main street. We should be designing new areas to be good for pedestriations, but I don't think we should be forcing pedestrianisation on areas developed around the car.

LKLad

To be honest I think we're missing a major point - the location of great tenants.

People would walk to the Guildhall if the big stores were available there.

Likewise people would walk from the retail park to the main street if the big names were located there but the reality is that all the big names are locating in the warehouses.

What happened in Sligo was that the Retail planning guides were enforced meaning only bulky goods could be sold in the retail park.

This allowed the successful development of the Quayside centre in the town centre with many of the tenants located in LK retail park.

I think we'll look back and realise the decision to allow open zoning on this land was a mistake and that a phased approach would have been better.

Anyway, it's a moot point now. All we can expect is for the pavements to be radically improved, excellent lighting, seating etc to be provided between the two areas. This should'nt be haphazard, it should be planned and in accordance with best practise which is why I think the current efforts are to be commended.

Civilian_Target

Damien Blake wrote:

It's an issue that comes up regularly in there. There's a concern that people aren't bothered to come down from the Foylseside and Richmond Centre, and would be more likely to go down there if they could drive.

I suspect that's wishful thinking. The reason no-one goes down there is because there's not much to do, its a victim of Foyleside's success in that the popular multiples went to Foyleside instead of down to the Guildhall, so things never quite took off there. Lack of parking probably played a major part in that, one of the main reasons Grafton street is so successful is the massive carparks in St. Stephens Green and Drury Lane, and the fact that St. Stephens Green is the south side bus terminus.

Damien Blake wrote:

I support your points about the benefits of pedestrianisation, from an environmental and health point, but I don't think it would be good for business on the main street. We should be designing new areas to be good for pedestriations, but I don't think we should be forcing pedestrianisation on areas developed around the car.

Don't know how much truth is in that - how many people access the main street by car anyway, it's so damn slow I'm sure you'll find that most motorists avoid it like the plague! Certainly there's a lack of pedestrian space there, if it's not going to be pedestrianised, removing parking on one side of the street and extending the pavement out would probably be a vast improvement on the current setup. There's plenty of car parking available off the street - why stifle the pedestrians for the sake of a handful of drivers?

donegalman1

I'd be very surprised if the rezoning wasn't a political issue at the outset anyway. I can think of one councillor who's family have interests to be developed nearby and other former co councillors with interests on the Blaney road. Never once are these things question. Worse still when these things are proven to be corrupt elsewhere, no real punishment is effected. Landowners and politicans involved in these type of scams should have their assets seized.

Anyway, the Main Street needs bigger retail units to try attract bigger stores though its unlikely they'd move away from where the others are ie Retail Park.

The small units on Main Street could be better used. The rennovation of Funland is a point in case. I doubt if a load of pound shops would be that great. If people support local and small businesses then there is a place for main street. I agree that the landscaping and footpaths etc around the new retail parks is appalling and the traffic management at Atlantic Homecare is a disaster.

Litcagral

Civilian_Target wrote:

Why? Theres a Dunnes and a Marks & Spencer in both the Foyleside and in the Blanchardstown Centre in Dublin.

Marks & Spencer do not have a branch in Blanchardstown SC.

byte

donegalman1 wrote:

The small units on Main Street could be better used. The rennovation of Funland is a point in case. I doubt if a load of pound shops would be that great. If people support local and small businesses then there is a place for main street. I agree that the landscaping and footpaths etc around the new retail parks is appalling and the traffic management at Atlantic Homecare is a disaster.

Couldn't agree more. Especially regarding the traffic around Atlantic Homecare. Not helped by 2 car entrances, and only one exit lane. The only entrance IMHO should be the top one beside McDonalds. That way, exiting cars wont be blocked by cars entering at the same junction who have right of way.

Damien Blake

donegalman1 wrote:

I'd be very surprised if the rezoning wasn't a political issue at the outset anyway. I can think of one councillor who's family have interests to be developed nearby and other former co councillors with interests on the Blaney road. Never once are these things question. Worse still when these things are proven to be corrupt elsewhere, no real punishment is effected. Landowners and politicans involved in these type of scams should have their assets seized.

Anyway, the Main Street needs bigger retail units to try attract bigger stores though its unlikely they'd move away from where the others are ie Retail Park.

The small units on Main Street could be better used. The rennovation of Funland is a point in case. I doubt if a load of pound shops would be that great. If people support local and small businesses then there is a place for main street. I agree that the landscaping and footpaths etc around the new retail parks is appalling and the traffic management at Atlantic Homecare is a disaster.

Firstly, this currently plan isn't really a "re-zoning". When the 2003 plan was being finalised, it was felt this area of land was in need of further study as it had to potential to impact hugely on the rest of the town. That is why this new plan is now being considered; it is finalising the initial zoning procedures. Also, this plan sets aside large areas of land for green space, open space and walkways, which is limiting the amount of land available for development, no matter what their (supposed/alleged) connections.

Secondly, I fully agree with you about the conflicts of interest. Any public representative that acts to benefit their own (or anyone connected to thems) interest should be removed immediately from office. It is public knowledge that my father is involved with a large tract of land on the south of the swilly (when the deal was done, it was reported on the front of the Derry People newspaper, and our connection was mentioned), and should anything come up that would affect this (or any other holding in which anyone connected to me was involved) land, I would of course declare the interest and be excused from the debate. This land is not part of the lands being considered as part of this plan.

To my knowledge, no councillor has voted on anything that would be considered a conflict in this current term of the council.

I also agree about Atlantic Homecare's traffic, it's terrible from a traffic management, traffic safety and pedestrian safety point of view. They are changing it around, so that traffic enters opposite argos and exits opposite Tony Kelly's.

The redevelopment of Funland has worked excellently, as can also be seen at A-Wear and Boots. Bigger units mean bigger names, to put it simply. We need to be pushing for these larger units, and the council does, whenever opportunities for development come up.

On the pedestrian issue, it's important to remember that Guildhall Sq was once a thriving shopping area. I can remember it being busy in my lifetime, but not anymore.

I would support removing parking from the left-hand-side of the Main Street. Remember when they were digging the tracks for the broadband? The traffic moved great then. Letterkenny's footpaths are very poor, particularly for disabled access. This is something we, as a council, need to address, and are committed to. I've raised it myself, as have other councillors.

I'm going to be away from my computer most of the next four days, so please forgive me if I'm slow to reply here.

Damien Blake

Litcagral wrote:

Marks & Spencer do not have a branch in Blanchardstown SC.

isn't there an M&S and a Dunnes in Liffey Valley SC?

donegalman1

Wasn't having a dig, Damien, infact I geniunely think you're a breath of fresh air in local politics and fianna fail, and have a long future.Your father wasn't bad either and I remember him stepping aside to avoid conflicts of interest. I am aware his land is on the other side of the swilly.

Pity the local press couldn't interact as well with councillors as we are able to do here on the boards.

I'd really like to see this site highlighted more locally so people can interact better.

Good news on the traffic front at Atlantic Homecare.

One thing becoming clear to me from this topic is that we'll never read the plan in detail but now we have the avenue to voice our concerns and have these answered... apreciate you taking the time to do so.

Litcagral

Damien Blake wrote:

isn't there an M&S and a Dunnes in Liffey Valley SC?

Yes.

Damien Blake

donegalman1 wrote:

Wasn't having a dig, Damien, infact I geniunely think you're a breath of fresh air in local politics and fianna fail, and have a long future.Your father wasn't bad either and I remember him stepping aside to avoid conflicts of interest. I am aware his land is on the other side of the swilly.

Pity the local press couldn't interact as well with councillors as we are able to do here on the boards.

I'd really like to see this site highlighted more locally so people can interact better.

Good news on the traffic front at Atlantic Homecare.

One thing becoming clear to me from this topic is that we'll never read the plan in detail but now we have the avenue to voice our concerns and have these answered... apreciate you taking the time to do so.

Thanks for your comments on my father. One quick point to clarify, he didn't step down but it wasn't over any "property" related conflict. At the time, he was a member of Letterkenny Town Council while working for Donegal County Council. The conflict came when he was offered a job in the County Council that would have taken him to a higher level, and he was required to choose between the job and being a councillor.

I didn't think you were having a dig, but I can accept that my reply seemed very defensive. I'm just trying to make sure all the cards are on the table; like my reference above to my father, my comments about the land were to ensure that it was brought out here as a matter of record.

I think it's vital that public reps keep in contact with the people. At the end of the day, it's important to remember that we are just normal members of the community; I'm a student, other members are teachers and publicans and community workers. We're available at any stage, should anyone want to get in contact with us.

Also, I have my own website that you can get me through. It's at http://www.damienblake.com/ and you can comment directly on any article I've put up there. I've been nominated for an Irish Blog Award, so if you feel like voting I'd appreciate that too (sorry, I'm still a politician at heart!)

LKLad

I agree with the sentiments expressed by Damien. I think people's supsicions about local politics comes from the sharp practices of the past. Thankfully a new breed of politicians are coming on stream which damien is a good example of and I think people's opinions will change in time.

(Hoewever I can think of one politician on the council whom i, like a lot of the town, have major doubts about their motives for being politically engaged).

Anyway M+S will be located on the corner site opposite the radisson subject to planning- it's in for planning now. They also hope to put a music store (HMV?Virgin?) in one of the units alongside.

I know these new developments are great etc but i think music outlets like those should really be closer to the town centre and to be honest I hope somone objects to the 7 units he has in for planning on the corner site ( in addition to the 19 he has under construction) as it's just going to kill the town centre.

LKLad

http://www.donegaldemocrat.com/story/6267

Click on attached for the county manager's views on this subject in today's democrat.

Civilian_Target

Litcagral wrote:

Marks & Spencer do not have a branch in Blanchardstown SC.

They do, well they certainly did in May/June - right down the back at the opposite end to Dunnes, down by all the clothes shops.

Litcagral

Civilian_Target wrote:

They do, well they certainly did in May/June - right down the back at the opposite end to Dunnes, down by all the clothes shops.

Are you confusing it with Roches Stores?? I rarely go shopping as I hate it but I'm pretty sure that there is no Marks & Spencers in Blanchardstown SC.

muffler

Listen up lads and lassies. Blanchardstown shopping centre is a fair bit to walk or drive if a one way system is put in place in Letterkenny. So can we stay on topic here please.

Litcagral

Sorry Muffler but I couldn't let that go unchallenged.

muffler

No problems my friend. Im just trying to keep everything running smoothly in the NW forum.

have to say that this forum is improving all the time so long may it continue

LKLad

Letterkenny Town Centre To Be Pedestrianised?
By Ciaran O'Donnell

Tuesday 14th February 2006

The future pedestrianisation of Letterkenny's town centre and Main Street should be investigated further, Donegal County Manager Michael McLoone has suggested.

In a lengthy report on retail strategy contained in the Donegal Development Plan 2005, which will go out shortly for public consultation, Mr McLoone said Letterkenny was considered vibrant, with a range of independents and national operators, and a mix of cultural of uses and benefits from locally organised promotional campaigns, such as Shop LK.

"The extended town centre area, which is the subject of a detailed masterplan, is now home to larger modern comparison retailing formats, including Next, TK-Maxx, Argos and Atlantic Homecare, as well as representation from all major stores, including Supervalu, Dunnes, Tesco, Lidl and Aldi," Mr McLoone commented.

According to the County Manager, the proximity of Derry, and the quantum and quality of convenience, and particularly comparison goods available there, continues to impact on the viability of Letterkenny.

"However, it is acknowledged that Letterkenny is strengthening its retail offer and increasingly able to hold hold its own," he said.

Mr McLoone continued: "Notwithstanding the provision of additional development land for retail uses in the extended town centre area, there are a number of sites in the traditional town centre which could equally provide appropriate opportunities for delivering modern retailing formats, and there is a concern with the Planning Authority should be more proactive in this regard.

"In addition, the traditional town centre would benefit from proper pedestrian linkages with the extended town centre area and there are opportunities to facilitate this, for example, An Post or the ESB building. Improved signage and a more managed approach to parking, as well as improved footpaths and lighting, would further enhance the character and accessibility of the town centre. The future pedestrian of the town centre main street should be investigated further," Mr McLoone commented.

The County Manager added: "However, as the main town in the county, it has been suggested that Letterkenny's growth as major retail centre has been somewhat haphazard and unplanned, and that, overall, the town lacks a clear vision for its growth and sustainable development."