Ideas for Carlow Town Centre area

91011

Carlow Town Centre Traders Association is a group of retail & service businesses representing the centre of Carlow including all of Tullow st, Dublin st, Castle hill, Kennedy Avenue & all other streets within the Town centre.

To date over 120 businesses have joined the group and we hope we can make a difference to the town centre with our target to improve business and add up to 200 new full & part-time jobs to the bsuinesses in the area.

With major upcoming sewage works, penneys development & the fact that business generally has fallen due to the recession, we are looking for ideas to attract new shoppers to the area.

Sometimes the best ideas come from people who don't go into the town, or who rarely frequent the town, so if there are any ideas - weird whacky included - out there, then let us know.

stick-dan

A bookstore where you can get a coffee whilst reading a chapter or two of a book you intend to buy. I've said it once and I'll say it again. Carlow severely lacks this amenity.

maccored

tullow street should really be an entertainment/tourist area with cafes, street entertainment and tourist/creative (art, music etc) shops

Dozen Wicked Words

91011 wrote: »

Sometimes the best ideas come from people who don't go into the town, or who rarely frequent the town, so if there are any ideas - weird whacky included - out there, then let us know.

http://www.prideofnorthampton.com

Probably pricey enough outlay, and obviously anything Carlow had would probably on a smaller scale but the Lions in Northampton (a usually ugly industrial town) I think have been great for encouraging people to go back into town. There are a few other projects in the UK with Rhinos, Penguins, Dragons and Elephants. The sculptures get auctioned off for charity when its finished.

The Cow in Fairgreen was always a big attraction for my kids, maybe a herd would do the trick!!!

scallioneater

PARKING....

You will not get customers without their cars. Carlow town centre needs additional parking that is not charged.

I suggest that a private company be formed to manage parking spaces in the town center. The goal should be to provide access for a reasonable amount of time and with mounting costs for longer stays and severe penalties for "All Day" parkers.

This can be done by providing FREE two hour parking in a couple (3-4) of multistory carparks and existing on-street spaces. For success and to ensure future growth, I estimate that up to a thousand spaces should be available.

The property owners in the tc should engage an architect/engineer to draw up a plan with costings. The existing parking spaces should be incorporated into this plan and leased from the Town Council.

Consumers should be given a simple message. Come to town, we have enough parking and we won't rip you off for parking fees.

The town council can't police the existing spaces to use them effectively, so a private company should. Every space they control should follow the same rules and the rules should be enforced. No confusing or contradictory messages and strict enforcement when people overstay.

The edge mall competitors provide free parking, the center must also.

slimjimmc

maccored wrote: »

tullow street should really be an entertainment/tourist area with cafes, street entertainment and tourist/creative (art, music etc) shops

And I believe it should remain a pedestrain zone during business hours. You can't have a comfortable relaxed atmosphere with the street clogged full of traffic and cars parked on footpaths. There are enough streets with enough traffic, people like to get away from all that hustle, it's Lwr Tullow St's only real attraction, imo.

maccored

as far as I can see the main shopping area of carlow is no longer tullow street. it used to be a few decades back, but not any more, businesses have moved to industrial areas or shopping centres so I think any plan to try and have people using lr tullow street as somewhere to buy groceries or clothes etc wont work - which in my mind would obviously mean it needs to be kept pedestrianised during the day if it were to be used for any kind of relaxation/tourism/entertainment area.

I wouldnt like the idea of tullow street becoming a car park. theres tons of those already throughout the town.

laurashambles

stick-dan wrote: »

A bookstore where you can get a coffee whilst reading a chapter or two of a book you intend to buy. I've said it once and I'll say it again. Carlow severely lacks this amenity.

Seconding this.

Also on the bookshop front, I get most of my books from either amazon or shops in other towns because the stock in Byrne's is so poor. I know they have a sign up saying that they'll order any book in print for you, but it's nice to just go in and browse and make a few impulse buys. If you want something really obscure you can just go online and have it delivered to your house in two days, so that service isn't much use to anyone with an internet connection. I'd be a lot more inclined to spend money there if their stock had a bit more diversity and order to it.

91011

Thanks for all the ideas - some stores have proposed to open tullow st to traffic again.

Parking is a major issue - loads of ideas including a "fun train" going from hanover to tullow st via fairgreen.

Loads of interesting stuff on the northampton site - I was ther a while back and knnow how dreary it used to be.

Committee meeting Tues, council meeting following week.

tombull82

whats the latest with the roof that was going over the street a few years back? only then it would make sense to keep it pedestrian during office hours.

SIX PACK

Carlow town planners for the future of perserving this beautiful south east town should look at other Heritage places around Ireland ie. Birr, Kenmare,Wexford town to name but a few... & kind of keep the place traditional & Irish.
A place where tourists & locals alike want to shop aswel as have really fond memories of their experience, Looking at buzz's bar & other businesse's on the street is a real eye sore & sad to see.

Tbh I dont think their is really much else you can do with the town. With all the big Supermarkets, Apart from maybe try get proper Buskers on tullow st
(not the ones that just make noise & cant sing like the 1's at present) Many young artists got their break from performing on the streets. So im sure their would be plenty of applicants egar to show their potential...

They rolled out a similar trial around London Underground in 2009 & it was a huge success 99% of Cummuters welcomed it...

SIX PACK

maccored wrote: »

tullow street should really be an entertainment/tourist area with cafes, street entertainment and tourist/creative (art, music etc) shops

100% AGREE But if the town planners are really serious about bringing some business back to tullow st. They really need to look at the rates perhaps Cut them in 1/2 from what iv heard Carlow town have 1 of the highest rates in the Country. That definatly needs to be addressed

wolrac

The only way for Carlow Town Centre to improve, or trade anywhere in the country to improve is for all of us to stop shopping on the internet etc., regardless of cost, and spend our money locally. We would not only would we be supporting local businesses but local jobs

foggy_lad

how about charging €1 for the first 3 hours car parking and open up tullow street to traffic again and remove some of the street furniture, if people are there for entertainment they are not shopping! also get rid of those awful 2euro shops and get Buzz's opened up again.

bluebell1

Those 'awful 2euro shops' are a life line for a lot of people on lower incomes and are sometimes the only way they can afford a product. They provide choice and open up competition against the supermarkets which can only be a good thing.

91011

SIX PACK wrote: »

100% AGREE But if the town planners are really serious about bringing some business back to tullow st. They really need to look at the rates perhaps Cut them in 1/2 from what iv heard Carlow town have 1 of the highest rates in the Country. That definatly needs to be addressed

Not one of the highest - but THE highest. But nothing can be done about this til revaluation comes in next year and as its a legal requirement there can be no withholding protest about it either.

wolrac wrote: »

The only way for Carlow Town Centre to improve, or trade anywhere in the country to improve is for all of us to stop shopping on the internet etc., regardless of cost, and spend our money locally. We would not only would we be supporting local businesses but local jobs

Internet will always be there, same way as catalogue shopping was around a good few years back (Family Album, Damart:D etc). I will be proposing that customer service levels are increased to a level not seen for many years - if you enjoy your shopping experience, you'll come back time and time again.

foggy_lad wrote: »

how about charging €1 for the first 3 hours car parking and open up tullow street to traffic again and remove some of the street furniture, if people are there for entertainment they are not shopping! also get rid of those awful 2euro shops and get Buzz's opened up again.

We're looking at 50c for 1st hour & 50c for each 30min thereafter with max 3 hours or 50c per hour & max 2 hours in all the near to shops parking areas.
Tullow st open to traffic if a bone of contention - I'm creating a survey ina seperate thread.

foggy_lad

people on lower incomes would be better off without the tat from those 2euro shops it is false economy that actually wastes money. they can get much of the same stuff in heatons or even aldi/lidl for a little bit more but the extra quality means it will last longer!

Legendredhead

Riddle me this, how would the small selection of food products last longer?
I agree with the idea of tullow street acting as an entertainment hub for the town to a degree, perhaps street acts and the likes should be encouraged more along there. Also something needs to be done with buzz's too, there's a lot of wasted space around tullow street, e.g old cosmo browns and those boarded up shop fronts next to it. couldnt that be transformed into new exciting shops of some kind?
also, and yes foggy_lad i am going to say it, a legal graffiti wall should be erected or designated somewhere in the town.
Opinions?

MissOphelia

Very disappointed with the recent additions of the yellow and grey plastic seats and plant containers. Cheap and nasty imo. What happened to the wooden ones that were there previously

rosehip

I agree miss o. Unfortunately as long as McLoughlin is taking over the Haddens carpark to build on, i feel Tullow street is no longer the "town centre".

This kills me - i'm carlow born and bred and have spent nearly 40 years walking up and down tullow street and worked there as a student and i love it but with the proliferation of pubs, lack of parking (please don't say about multistorey ones as i'm not alone in not wanting to park in there for 5 mins to just get one or two things in town) and empty buildings it's now just another side area.

If penney's develops, that still shifts it further over and down to aldi and new tesco entrance. I feel it's a bit of a conspiracy. Tesco allowed to break into barrack street and the pedestrian crossing taken out between haddens carpark and penneys (just to the side of the dole office). It's like the planners are leaving that area for pubs and clubs and mcloiughlin's little empire.

MissOphelia

Well I've heard developing the Haddens carpark is not as straightforward as they thought, due to the large amount of water mains and electric cables below ground that need to be accessible...
Hate being sold a pig in a poke :P

SIX PACK

The multi storey carpark @ Carlow Shopping centre never has any cars parked on the top level . . . So dont think theirs that much of a need for another multi storey Carpark.

rosehip

I think that's being fixed miss o, hence all the digging up the road on kennedy ave.

Sixpack, i'm not asking for another multistorey carpark - quite the opposite! I want open air parking in hadden's carpark - that is the only way tullow street would stay an active part of the town in the daytime. Even with tullow street open to traffic, there is still the hassle of finding somewhere to park streets away- thus making it easier to go to Tesco etc and I hate Fairgreen - no character, no charm, noisy--- (yeah i'm grumpy )

Between superquinn and the old royal hotel multistorey, i think they're also ruining the architecture of the town.

And don't get me started on that monstrousity they were allowed build at Doyle's of the Shamrock!!!!

going off now to find something else to moan about..........:p

wordisbond

1. Sponsored film festival. Winning film shown in Bernard Shaw Theatre. All films must include tullow street. Here's a festival example: http://www.darklight.ie/
Talk to the IT about getting their media students involved.

2. http://www.scvngr.com/ This is going to be HUGE. Google and the like have already invested millions in it. It's very new though and so has hardly any, if any, challenges/treks in Ireland. Get in early and be the first to use this resource!

3. I'm not too up on the laws/costs of opening hours but I'm guessing it would make more sense to have tullow street shops open later to be in better competition to the shopping centres. Maybe till 9/10 pm? I hate the fact that everything shuts down after 6 o clock in the evening bar pubs and tesco.

Can't really think of much else at the moment to be honest. The park at haddens needs to be sorted big time though.

wordisbond

Legendredhead wrote: »

also, and yes foggy_lad i am going to say it, a legal graffiti wall should be erected or designated somewhere in the town.
Opinions?

Defo agree with this. Seen some grafitti around the college recently. I think it'd be a great idea.

As towns go the layout of Carlow is absolutely horrible.Who ever was over planning on the council during the boom times must never have been sober while granting planning permission to construct so many eyesores. The new buildings in the town have absolutely no character and were built to maximise the financial gains of developers. It's really shameful. The old ruins of the Castle should have been developed to create an asset for the commercial interest of the town. To walk from Graiguecullen Bridge to Tullow St is a truly depressing journey. What has taken place on both sides of the river is a disgrace and there will be a time in the future when all these apartments will need to be demolished, especially on the Graiguecullen side.

I feel for shop owners trying to survive in these trying times but there is just so little appeal in the town to shop. Don't worry the council will be still there to collect your rates and don't expect them to reinvigorate commercial activity around the town any time in the near future. They were useless when they had money, so I guess they'll be even more useless with less. Just hope they can continue to squander/donate millions of euros to the greater cause that is Mc..........

wolrac

I think it is unhelpful to blame planners, Carlow Council etc. for lack of business and other problems in Carlow Town. Greedy Carlovian developers and business people are mostly responsible. As far as I can see Carlow publicans also have a lot to answer for. Kilkenny have 8 annual festivals that cover most bank holiday weekends (possibly more, I may not be familiar with all events in Kilkenny) These are mostly 3 day events and publican led, so Carlow Vintners, what are ye doing to keep business in Carlow? As far as I can see ALL other businesses have taken a hit (lowered their prices, or given added value) over the past couple of months but most of the pubs in Carlow have not done any of the above.

carrie1234

Well i think its a bit rich blaming publicians ( BTW I'm not one ) when everyone knows that the rates in Carlow are the highest in the country, people are not going out as much anymore and what the hell is the council doing for the rates???
I think people should be screaming about the unfairness that publicians & shop owners have to put up with instead of expecting them to do the councils job and organise a festival,,,, come on , next you'll be expecting the business community to pay the councils wages, oh no wait... we already do that !!!

Nothingbetter2d

wolrac wrote: »

The only way for Carlow Town Centre to improve, or trade anywhere in the country to improve is for all of us to stop shopping on the internet etc., regardless of cost, and spend our money locally. We would not only would we be supporting local businesses but local jobs

this idea is simply not practical.

online purchases tend to be cheaper........ more conveinent and delivered to your door.

Nothingbetter2d

rosehip wrote: »

Tesco allowed to break into barrack street and the pedestrian crossing taken out between haddens carpark and penneys (just to the side of the dole office).

that was a stupid idea to put two pedestrian crossings so close to each other...im glad its gone now.

wolrac wrote: »

I think it is unhelpful to blame planners, Carlow Council etc. for lack of business and other problems in Carlow Town. Greedy Carlovian developers and business people are mostly responsible. As far as I can see Carlow publicans also have a lot to answer for. Kilkenny have 8 annual festivals that cover most bank holiday weekends (possibly more, I may not be familiar with all events in Kilkenny) These are mostly 3 day events and publican led, so Carlow Vintners, what are ye doing to keep business in Carlow? As far as I can see ALL other businesses have taken a hit (lowered their prices, or given added value) over the past couple of months but most of the pubs in Carlow have not done any of the above.

high rates is the fault of the council.... & the carlow vintners cant be blamed for that... the main reason why pubs are closing is cos noone is going into them anymore. which is a shame but a reality due to Fianna Fail (pronouced fale) ballzing up any hope for recovery by increasing taxes on pretty much everything leaving people with even less money to spend.

Irish Guitarist

I'd love to see a decent musical instrument shop in the town.

SIX PACK

Their is 1 on Kennedy Ave

Nothingbetter2d

SIX PACK wrote: »

Their is 1 on Kennedy Ave

i believe he meant a decent music instrument shop

maringo

To encourage shoppers to come into the centre of town all car parks should give the 1st couple of hours free

slimjimmc

maringo wrote: »

To encourage shoppers to come into the centre of town all car parks should give the 1st couple of hours free

You can park in the multi-storey in Carlow Shopping Centre and if you spend €20 or €30 in Superquinn you can ask the checkout to punch your ticket and get the first hour parking free. Actually I think it goes up to 2 hours.
The scheme has been running for quite a few years.

Irish Guitarist

SIX PACK wrote: »

Their is 1 on Kennedy Ave

Thanks. I know about it though and it's not a great shop. The range of instruments is very limited. They also don't stock strings for less popular instruments like bouzoukis. It's very hard to try anything out as there's no soundproof booth. I find it hard to try out an instrument sitting on a stool in the middle of a shop.