Car Parking in Sligo - when will Borough Council increase it?

jimmmy · 22-11-2008 12:20PM #1

I drove in to Sligo from the inner relief road recently and there was no parking to be had in the Dunnes / Tesco car park....only frustrated motorists going round in circles before leaving Sligo again to shop elsewhere. A few years ago, there used to be a lot of car parking spaces at the back of the old Johnston court, where the new Johnston Court shopping centre is built now. Why were these car parking spaces which were taken not replaced in the centre of Sligo ? In the papers over a year ago the Borough Council said they were going to provide a new surface car park for 100 cars , where some derelect houses are on the west side of Adelaide Street, which would at least be between the inner relief road and the town centre. They got planning permission, why was it not built ? Its a pain carring heavy bags of shopping long distances.

Essexboy · 22-11-2008 01:29PM

jimmmy wrote: »

I drove in to Sligo from the inner relief road recently and there was no parking to be had in the Dunnes / Tesco car park....only frustrated motorists going round in circles before leaving Sligo again to shop elsewhere. A few years ago, there used to be a lot of car parking spaces at the back of the old Johnston court, where the new Johnston Court shopping centre is built now. Why were these car parking spaces which were taken not replaced in the centre of Sligo ? In the papers over a year ago the Borough Council said they were going to provide a new surface car park for 100 cars , where some derelect houses are on the west side of Adelaide Street, which would at least be between the inner relief road and the town centre. They got planning permission, why was it not built ? Its a pain carring heavy bags of shopping long distances.

You have explained just why people avoid Sligo and go elsewehere: North Sligo people to Ballyshannon or Bundoran, East Sligo to Carrick etc. Sligo Town has better facilities and more shops but parking is impossible and negotiating its narow streets is a nightmare.
The Corporation have promised extra parking and a new shopping centre for years - the "Master Plan" - but have not delivered.
Only when enough people boycott the town - and there are staff changes at the Corporation - will any improvements be made.

darealtulip · 23-11-2008 10:49AM

parking is ok if you dont want to do any shopping, for our weekly shop we drive to Enniskillen where you can always park at tesco's, they applied a few times for a big tesco's at carraroe but that always been refused. almost everyone we know go to enniskillen now and we hardly buy anything in sligo anymore. We only go for small things we need quick or to argos now it's finaly there!!! but because we do our weekly shop in enniskillen we more likely to shop there, this is something they have to come to reallise in sligo council. even when it's not cheaper to go to enniskillen (with the low sterling it is though)we will be going there or to carrick the tescos are much better and have evrything in stock unlike the one in sligo (its by far the worst and dirtiest one I have ever seen!) Sligo does seem to think that when the tesco goes outside the center of town it will take a lot of people away. I think that by keeping tesco in the center people going elsewhere but that just my opinion and that from people around maybe people that life in sligo town will see this differant.
Any way the parking should be sorted before we will be back there!

jimmmy · 24-11-2008 12:03PM

darealtulip wrote: »

Sligo does seem to think that when the tesco goes outside the center of town it will take a lot of people away. !

Not just Sligo. All town planners think that too, and that is the experience in other towns around the world. If you take food shopping out of a town and put is in a grren field site a few miles away, halfway betwen Sligo and Ballisodare, you could put a fence up around Sligo and declare it a wildlife / bird sanctuary. All towns should grow from the centre out. That is why the development plan for the town is as it is.

darealtulip wrote: »

Any way the parking should be sorted before

Tell the Borough council that, its something everyone agrees.

il gatto · 24-11-2008 12:29PM

Seeing as Sligo Borough Council will be paying for repaving O'Connell Street and building a footbridge for the next three decades, I wouldn't hold my breath on any carparks.
Tesco need to move. Any "city" that can't sustain business when a grocery shop moves a mile and a half should be closed down. To have people stuck in traffic, clogging up parking in the effort to buy a loaf of bread, a frozen ready meal and such, is a pointless situation. How many people want to coordinate their grocery shopping with their clothes shopping who couldn't just drive from Carraroe into town? If it's about parking, and ergo cars, it makes sense not to have people taking up spaces for something that could be as well served out of town. Many people would prefer a scenario of a big new Tesco with loads of parking and then a short drive into town for other shopping, where there's also more parking as people aren't taking up spaces for grocery shopping.
By all means keep life in the middle of town, but if a large British multinational grocery shop is the only attraction of the town center, there's bigger things to worry about.

jimmmy · 24-11-2008 12:54PM

il gatto wrote: »

Seeing as Sligo Borough Council will be paying for repaving O'Connell Street and building a footbridge for the next three decades, I wouldn't hold my breath on any carparks.

I would not hold my breath waiting on extra footbridges etc to be built either. If O'Connel st is paved it wiould be a waste of money + would no doubt be dug up weeks later for more services in any case. What the town needs is more car parking, esp. close to the inner relief road to make it convenient for people.

il gatto wrote: »

Tesco need to move.

Why ? They need to upgrade + provide more car parking spaces sure. Dunnes incidentally have got planning permission for a massive new shop / multi storey parking between tesco + the inner relief road. That will shake up tesco when its built.

il gatto wrote: »

Any "city" that can't sustain business when a grocery shop moves a mile and a half should be closed down.

The large warehouse type shops up on the hill at at Carraroe are more than 1.5 miles from O'Connell Street.

il gatto wrote: »

To have people stuck in traffic, clogging up parking in the effort to buy a loaf of bread, a frozen ready meal and such, is a pointless situation.

Exactly, improve traffic flow / parking etc ....or if they are from outside Sligo and in a car they would more than likely stop at a convenience shop / pertrol station etc on the way home. If they live in the centre of Sligo eg in an apartment they will more than likely be walking. If they travel by bus or train then Sligo would definitely suit, a round trip of one hours walk to Carraroe is out of the question for most (even able bodied ) people, especially in this wet + ewindy weather.

il gatto wrote: »

By all means keep life in the middle of town, but if a large British multinational grocery shop is the only attraction of the town center, there's bigger things to worry about.

Sligo has other attractions...its not like the towns in the UK for example where the mistake was made of putting the large supermaket a few miles from the town centre. Even a mile can be enough to damage a town....look at Lisburn for example - people may go to the Sprucefield shopping centre there, but what about the shops / restaurants etc left in the centre of Lisburn ? Do you seriously want Sligo to be like that ?

darealtulip · 24-11-2008 02:00PM

Tesco's is busy getting a store in coollony according to a rumor, Since everybody goes to enniskillen for shopping (most people in donegal and leitrim and more and more from sligo) I think they lose out more trade then when there was a a good tesco or asda or what ever at the edge of town.

In scotland the town centers are not that effected by the tesco's and asda's moving to retail parks. People still shop there, they go shopping for clothes etc in town centers.

In Holland we have the supper markets in the shopping centers (town centers etc) and the complaint there is that it kills the small shops. Its always a threat. but bottom line is that most people want choice and that means big shops. I find that the choice is very limmited in sligo anyway, I always find that you have the choice beetwen 1 or 2 items in the whole town. If we really want to buy something like clothes, electronics or even car parts we travel to enniskillen (carparts are much cheaper in the north even with a high sterling), belfast, dublin or galway. I'm maybe very spoiled since I grew up in Rotterdam and always lived in city's (glasgow etc) but I think there is a lot of room for improvement. I dont know if it will be better if there is a good Tesco's in town or not but I do know that a lot of people stay away for two main reason as I wrote before. I think it would be an improvement when they combine the two markets together and put it at the riverside just like the french market. Market always give a lifely feeling to the place.

jimmmy · 24-11-2008 06:51PM

darealtulip wrote: »

In Holland we have the supper markets in the shopping centers (town centers etc)

For towns the size of Sligo ( 18 or 19,000 people ) that is the correct place too, providing roads / car parking spaces etc are properly planned. We do not need an urban sprawl with a supermarket a few miles from such a size town centre. For the greater good, for the convenience of people using public transport, for the convenience of people living in apartments + houses in the town centre, all town planners worldwide, in these increasingly environmentally conscious times, would seek the provision of proper shopping facilities in or close to the town centre rather than on a green field site miles away like in Carraroe.

il gatto · 24-11-2008 09:46PM

Each town is not allocated one Tesco. There's no reason why a slightly smaller one couldn't be annexed by Johnston's Court. There is no choice as it is. That's why people head elsewhere. It doesn't benefit the town in any way to have it choking on traffic. Everywhere you put a car park, you take up space that could be retail or dwelling. That is counter productive to bringing life to the town.
Improving traffic flow in a medieval street plan is only viable to a point. Most towns counteract heavy traffic congestion in the center by pedestrianising certain streets. This further restricts movement by funneling traffic into less streets.
Carraroe may be 1.5 miles from O'Connell Street but that's neither here nor there to people who don't live in the center of town. There is practically no public transport outside of the town. Tesco don't even do home delivery in Sligo. That means people have no choice but to bring their car to town. It's not lazyness or being unwilling to try public transport. It's a necessity.
Seeing as the powers that be see fit to maintain the status quo, large numbers of people have no qualms about taking their custom elsewhere.
Sligo may have many other attractions but I, like many people I know, don't care to avail of them too often as the traffic and parking takes all the enjoyment of going anywhere near the town center during business hours.
And it is a few hundreth of a mile over 1.5 to the retail park at Carraroe from the corner of O'Connell Street outside O2. I have to walk further to use the few buses a day to town from where I live.

darealtulip · 25-11-2008 10:34AM

jimmmy wrote: »

For towns the size of Sligo ( 18 or 19,000 people ) that is the correct place too, providing roads / car parking spaces etc are properly planned. We do not need an urban sprawl with a supermarket a few miles from such a size town centre. For the greater good, for the convenience of people using public transport, for the convenience of people living in apartments + houses in the town centre, all town planners worldwide, in these increasingly environmentally conscious times, would seek the provision of proper shopping facilities in or close to the town centre rather than on a green field site miles away like in Carraroe.

I think you will find that most people cannot take their weekly shop in a bus, if you can take a bus that is. In our village the bus for sligo goes up at 8.00 am and 18.00 pm. That is really no option. As ilgatto says, for me it's really no distance to go first to the retail park and then to tesco. I agree there should be a small supermarket in town but I think there should be one that people can go to for there wekly shop. If you go to enniskillen you can see how much bussines they lose in sligo. I know that the low sterling gets people over the border but where I life the most people went to enniskillen way before that. I think they should have more nice small shops in town and not the ones you have every where (every town/city center has the same shops now) make it specail instead of the same as everywhere else(but with less choise as is the case in sligo for some reason). I think the area along the river is a great selling point and there should be more done with that.

jimmmy · 25-11-2008 12:35PM

il gatto wrote: »

Each town is not allocated one Tesco. .

Correct. There are two Dunnes in Sligo for example. Shops may open wherever they choose to invest, as long as they get planning permission etc like everyone else who wants to build.

il gatto wrote: »

That's why people head elsewhere..

I would guess that that Tesco have the biggest turnover of any supermarket ( and probably shop ) in Sligo county, judging by the fact its open 24/7 and the numbers at the checkouts etc.....so obviously not everyone heads elsewhere. ( I have no connection to Tesco by the way, and I sometimes shop in other places too )

il gatto wrote: »

It doesn't benefit the town in any way to have it choking on traffic. .

correct, so improve traffic management + parking etc.

il gatto wrote: »

Carraroe may be 1.5 miles from O'Connell Street .

The "retail park" warehouse type buildings in Carraroe aremore than 1.5 miles from O'Connell st. Try walking up that hill on a wet + windy day !

il gatto wrote: »

There is practically no public transport outside of the town. .

There are a lot of buses ( it is a major bus hub in the region ), there are trains every few hours etc etc. If you supported these services instead of moaning they would be better.

il gatto wrote: »

Sligo may have many other attractions but I, like many people I know, don't care to avail of them too often .

For the size of it ( 18 or 19000 people ) ,at least it has selection of restaurants, cafes, unique niche shops, pubs, nightclubs etc...it may not be perfect but go to another town in the world which has had its main food outlet moved a few miles away, and show me the attractions in the town there .

il gatto · 25-11-2008 05:20PM

jimmmy wrote: »

Correct. There are two Dunnes in Sligo for example. Shops may open wherever they choose to invest, as long as they get planning permission etc like everyone else who wants to build.

I would guess that that Tesco have the biggest turnover of any supermarket ( and probably shop ) in Sligo county, judging by the fact its open 24/7 and the numbers at the checkouts etc.....so obviously not everyone heads elsewhere. ( I have no connection to Tesco by the way, and I sometimes shop in other places too )

correct, so improve traffic management + parking etc.

The "retail park" warehouse type buildings in Carraroe aremore than 1.5 miles from O'Connell st. Try walking up that hill on a wet + windy day !

There are a lot of buses ( it is a major bus hub in the region ), there are trains every few hours etc etc. If you supported these services instead of moaning they would be better.

For the size of it ( 18 or 19000 people ) ,at least it has selection of restaurants, cafes, unique niche shops, pubs, nightclubs etc...it may not be perfect but go to another town in the world which has had its main food outlet moved a few miles away, and show me the attractions in the town there .

This is pointless. You disagree? Fine. I don't intend picking apart your post to explain what I already have. I suggest you look at Google Earth to check how far the retail park is.
The fact that you think there is an acceptable level of public transport shows that you either don't know the actual situation, or you wish to continue arguing the point. That I should stop moaning and avail of said transport is a laughable notion. I'm stating the fact that there's bad public transport, not bemoaning it as I don't care because there will never be a viable option from where I live and for the hours I work.
People do shop elsewhere, a point conceded by the government as being a problem.
And as for towns that have had their main food outlets moved out of the town center? Carrick-on-Shannon is actually taking customers from Sligo since it happened there. Enniskillen is booming, as is Newry. Ease of parking improves business, a widely accepted fact.

jimmmy · 25-11-2008 06:21PM

il gatto wrote: »

I suggest you look at Google Earth to check how far the retail park is. .

I suggest you walk or cycle up that hill to Carraroe - especially in this sort of weather - to see how far it is.

il gatto wrote: »

The fact that you think there is an acceptable level of public transport shows that you either don't know the actual situation, or you wish to continue arguing the point. .

I did not say "there is an acceptable level of public transport", but I did correct someone who said "
There is practically no public transport outside of the town. .". What I actually said was "There are a lot of buses ( it is a major bus hub in the region ), there are trains every few hours etc etc. "

il gatto wrote: »

People do shop elsewhere, a point conceded by the government as being a problem.
Enniskillen is booming, as is Newry..

6% difference in vat rates, cheaper labour rates, cheaper overheads, lower distributions costs from UK mainland all lead to cheaper prices. Price is the main reason why people travel hours , at expense to themselves + the environment , to do their shopping.

il gatto wrote: »

Ease of parking improves business, a widely accepted fact.

My point exactly. Tell that to Sligo Borough Council.

il gatto · 25-11-2008 08:00PM

I suggest I've already walked to the retail park and had no issue with it. Then I realised not every shop in the county needs to be crammed into a medieval town center and that it was built to cater for heavy usage by car drivers, but that if people from the middle of town wished, there is a bus laid on.
You keep dissecting posts sentence by sentence, and then giving pointless arguments. Why state the amount of trains and the fact that it's a bus hub, but then continue to point out you never said there was an acceptable level of public transport? Correct someone? What? So the fact that many people have practically no public transport available to them warrants pointing out there is some level of transport. So people should use it, despite the fact it's not there to be used in many cases? Pedantry.

vmcnult · 25-11-2008 10:28PM

jimmmy wrote: »

I drove in to Sligo from the inner relief road recently and there was no parking to be had in the Dunnes / Tesco car park....only frustrated motorists going round in circles before leaving Sligo again to shop elsewhere. A few years ago, there used to be a lot of car parking spaces at the back of the old Johnston court, where the new Johnston Court shopping centre is built now. Why were these car parking spaces which were taken not replaced in the centre of Sligo ? In the papers over a year ago the Borough Council said they were going to provide a new surface car park for 100 cars , where some derelect houses are on the west side of Adelaide Street, which would at least be between the inner relief road and the town centre. They got planning permission, why was it not built ? Its a pain carring heavy bags of shopping long distances.

I totally agree. I was there at the weekend and it took me almost an hour and a half to get parking!! :mad: If I had been on my own I could have parked further out but I still do not know where.

The car parking areas all around the town were full.
To my knowledge when I worked in Sligo 3years ago there was talk about a multi-storey carpark...
Despite it being so hard to get parking, I suppose there is a positive thought to be taken out of this - There is no sign of a recession in Sligo

(for now anyway)

magnumlady · 26-11-2008 11:30AM

Its not just parking in town thats a problem, trying to get parked in the hospital is a joke.
I was driving around for over half an hour last week trying to find a space and saw people coming back to their cars with bags of shopping, the hospital car park should be for people attending the hospital.

jimmmy · 26-11-2008 11:43AM

il gatto wrote: »

I suggest I've already walked to the retail park and had no issue with it.

Good for you, you obviously have plenty of energy. I suggest that the hilly hour long round walk is not convenient for most people, of different ages and states of health, in our Irish climate, in order to shop for a few small items.

il gatto wrote: »

Why state the amount of trains and the fact that it's a bus hub, but then continue to point out you never said there was an acceptable level of public transport?

Whither there is an acceptable level of public transport or not is not the point. The point is, as all town and city planners from around the world would agree, town centres should grow from the centre out. Sligo has a bus station, a train station , and plentry of people living locally in apartments , houses etc. Extra and better car parking and traffic management should be provided in the town centre, preferably between the inner relief road ( where most of the traffic comes in to Sligo ) and the town centre, to ease congestion. Dunnes have planning permission for a large multistorey new car park and massive new shop on their site in the town centre...lets hope they build it soon and the recession does not slow up its construction.

Anyone got any ideas to email Sligo Borough Council asking for more car parking spaces ? It seems we are all agreed on the car parking issue - how can we do something positive about it ?

il gatto · 26-11-2008 06:25PM

jimmmy wrote: »

Good for you, you obviously have plenty of energy. I suggest that the hilly hour long round walk is not convenient for most people, of different ages and states of health, in our Irish climate, in order to shop for a few small items.

Whither there is an acceptable level of public transport or not is not the point. The point is, as all town and city planners from around the world would agree, town centres should grow from the centre out. Sligo has a bus station, a train station , and plentry of people living locally in apartments , houses etc. Extra and better car parking and traffic management should be provided in the town centre, preferably between the inner relief road ( where most of the traffic comes in to Sligo ) and the town centre, to ease congestion. Dunnes have planning permission for a large multistorey new car park and massive new shop on their site in the town centre...lets hope they build it soon and the recession does not slow up its construction.

Anyone got any ideas to email Sligo Borough Council asking for more car parking spaces ? It seems we are all agreed on the car parking issue - how can we do something positive about it ?

But the town center is choked. Growing it by encouraging even more cars and facilitating them with parking will only lead to traffic congestion that the streets can't cope with.
Moving certain types of retail out of town selectivly, takes excessive traffic out. People who have cars will bring it when their buying groceries, a television, flat pack furniture etc. People want to be able to drive to the door and put stuff in their car. Some business' just don't work in town as well as they do out of town. By all means, maintain a level of choice in the town, but don't force people to drive through heavy traffic, spend half an hour looking for a parking space (providing more has been an ongoing issue for years now.) and then do it all again on the way home. Even with the extra parking which has never materialised, it makes for a miserable shopping experience.
While it may be inconvienient for people living in the town center to have to go to the retail park (there's a bus provided for them though, isn't there?), it's equally inconvienient for people out of town to go to the town center. The point being, these people have a car and therefore a choice. And alot of people are happy with the retail park and some are happy shop in other towns for their groceries due to Sligo's traffic problems. By preventing large grocery retailers from building stores on the edge of town, Sligo is losing the jobs and business to elsewhere.

Gillie · 26-11-2008 06:59PM

I'd have to side with illgatto on this issue (Shock horror!).

Certain stores are not suitable for Sligo town centre (Heatons, Argos, Homebase etc.) as a lot of what they sell are bulky and they need to be somewhere accessible.

I personally like where the Retail parks are situated. In castlebar they had the advantage of having a huge greenfield site with walking distance of the town centre and were able to locate Tesco, Aldi, Argos, Homebase, Next etc.
We didn't have that luxury not that it was for that reason that Hombase etc were located where they were.

I shop in Dunnes & Lidl for my groceries. I sometimes go to Tesco availing of the 24 hour feature.
If I am in the centre of town I park in either the Quayside or Connaughton Road depending on where my business takes me. I choose carefully when I visit the centre of Sligo. There is no point in driving into the centre of Sligo on a Friday from 2-6 in my opinion. You just know it's going to be mental so why bother?

That said I don't think the developers of Johnson's Court should have gotten away without creating parking spaces as part of the development nor do I think the "powers that be" should have allowed existing businesses in the town centre to relocate thus leaving lots of empty units in their wake.

Sligo is not perfect. Not by a long shot but it's a damn sight better than it was.

Just my two cents...

(Anyone seen StarBelgrade recently?)

jimmmy · 27-11-2008 11:17AM

il gatto wrote: »

By preventing large grocery retailers from building stores on the edge of town, Sligo is losing the jobs and business to elsewhere.

Nobody is preventing large grocery retailers from building stores on the edge of town, or within walking distance of the town centre...Lidl did, Dunnes have obtained planning permission for a massive new store + multi storey car park ....there are rumours about a new large supermarket on the site of the old and recently vacated timber yard near Finisklin road , which would be suitable as its only 100 yards from the inner relief road and is within walking distance of the Quayside shopping ctr etc. There are a multitude of sites within say half a mile of the town centre, without travelling halfway to hilly green field sites between Sligo and Ballisodare.

jimmmy · 27-11-2008 11:32AM

Gillie wrote: »

Certain stores are not suitable for Sligo town centre (Heatons, Argos, Homebase etc.) as a lot of what they sell are bulky and they need to be somewhere accessible.

The retail park in places like Letterkenny works ok because it is not too far from the town centre....although going to TK Max etc there on a rainy day from the bus or town centre is a pain + best avoided.
Take Argos...in Enniskillen , Castlebar, Athlone etc it is in the town centres, and convenient for people to buy from. I sometimes dropped in there to buy a box of CD's, or a present for someone, or whatever - I would not go miles out of the way to do so.

Gillie wrote: »

I personally like where the Retail parks are situated. In castlebar they had the advantage of having a huge greenfield site with walking distance of the town centre and were able to locate Tesco, Aldi, Argos, Homebase, Next etc.
We didn't have that luxury not that it was for that reason that Hombase etc were located where they were.

We did have the same luxury as Castlebar as far as sites are concerned. You do not have to go in an aeroplane or helicopter to see all the sites much closer to Sligo than the hill in Carraroe, halfway to Ballisodare. Get a map, or google earth.

Gillie wrote: »

That said I don't think the developers of Johnson's Court should have gotten away without creating parking spaces as part of the development

As a condition of their planning permission they would have been charged a seven figure sum by Sligo Borough Council, for car parking spaces. Any developer building a shop and apartments has to provide car parking spaces, or else pay the Borough Council to provide same. In all fairness to the delelopers, the fact that Sligo Borough Council did not invest this money in car parking spaces in Sligo is not the fault of the developers.

As I said, it seems we are all agreed on the car parking issue - how can we do something positive about it ?

Gillie · 27-11-2008 12:32PM

We did have the same luxury as Castlebar as far as sites are concerned. You do not have to go in an aeroplane or helicopter to see all the sites much closer to Sligo than the hill in Carraroe, halfway to Ballisodare. Get a map, or google earth.

Have google earth not that i need it. "Get a map"? What's with the attitude?
Interested to know where you would have suggested as a more suitable site for the stores that are there?
The Retail park at Carraroe is half way to Ballisodare from Where exactly?

The retail park in Letterkenny is arguably just as far from the town Centre also.

Argos in Sligo is not miles out of town either.

I've read all your posts on this and I can see that we just see differently on this. Apart from parking in Sligo I am quite happy with the setup.

By the way. Ballysodare is 4.9 to 5.5 miles from Sligo depending on your starting point.
Obviously if you live in Cranmore, Caltragh, Oakfield, Maugheraboy, Greenfort, Ferndale, Highfield Rd. etc it's considerably closer.

jimmmy · 27-11-2008 01:42PM

Gillie wrote: »

Have google earth not that i need it. "Get a map"?

Interested to know where you would have suggested as a more suitable site for the stores that are there?

Carraoroe is ok for the likes of Homebase + furniture, but somewhere closer to Sligo, and ideally closer to a main exit off the inner relief road, would have been better town planning. There are large sites close to the road to Finisklin which are being earmarked for development now.

Gillie wrote: »

The Retail park at Carraroe is half way to Ballisodare from Where exactly?

O'Connell St, the main st in Sligo.

Gillie wrote: »

The retail park in Letterkenny is arguably just as far from the town Centre also.

Rubbish. I have walked to the one in Letterkenny many times from the town centre there, it is an easy walk, unlike the much longer, hillier walk past + through residential areas etc to Carraroe.

Gillie wrote: »

Argos in Sligo is not miles out of town either.

Correct. It is not as convenient or as easy to find to shoppers in Sligo as the ones in neighbouring towns like E'killen, C'bar + Athlone etc, but then they get what they pay for, like everything else. Town centre rents would be higher than those commercial rents hidden away behind a residential area. Try explaining to a visitor to Sligo where Argos is + they get lost ! They would only even try to find it if they had a gas guzzler. Its not convenient to the bus / train station, and walking there in wet + windy weather is not an easy option, if unsure of the directions, past housing + industrial estates etc.

Gillie wrote: »

I've read all your posts on this and I can see that we just see differently on this. Apart from parking in Sligo I am quite happy with the setup.

Apart from parking in Sligo I am quite happy with the setup too. We have to make do with the situation as we find it. Its a great town. It is not perfect, but we cannot destroy it or the environment more than necessary.

Gillie wrote: »

By the way. Ballysodare is 4.9 to 5.5 miles from Sligo depending on your starting point.

Its 5 miles, correct, or less from outskirts to outskirts....look at the environment from the top of Knocknarea, as I have sometimes done over the years, and you will see there was a massive explosion of building on the green belt between the 2 urban areas over the past 10 years or so.
Some continental friends just could not understand how this was allowed to happen. It would not have happened there nowadays, they learnt their lessons..

magnumlady · 27-11-2008 01:57PM

I've given up reading this thread now.
Its hard to read with all the quotes and answers jimmmy

jimmmy · 27-11-2008 02:05PM

Each point was answered fully in turn.

darealtulip · 27-11-2008 04:58PM

I think that this thread shows that people in town want the tesco in town and every one else wants it in a retail park on the out skirts. Mean while sligo is losing out because evryone goes to the north or carrick (where the tesco and asda are not in the center). last thing I say about this coz the same is said over and over again.

takola · 27-11-2008 05:35PM

Jimmmy why don't you start a petition and have all the people you know sign it? Write a letter to the borough stating your concerns and what you think they've done wrong.

Honestly, this thread has been frustrating to read. You're dissecting every single post, making points that you're then taking away and disagreeing with people, only to agree with them. What's the point? It's like you don't want people to agree with you, you're just looking for an argument.

People do not need to have the same opinion as you. You don't need to keep dissecting their posts only to repeat what you've said in post one. Your posts are getting confused now in my opinion. The argument seems pointless if you aren't going to acknowledge that other people disagree with you and have other opinions.

jimmmy · 28-11-2008 11:53AM

takola wrote: »

People do not need to have the same opinion as you.

Of course . Did I ever say or insinuate otherwise ? It is great to live in a democracy where people are allowed to voice different opinions.

takola wrote: »

. The argument seems pointless if you aren't going to acknowledge that other people disagree with you and have other opinions.

Its obvious some other people disagree with me and have other opinions. Why do you ask me to acknowledge the obvious ? Why not ask them ? I merely state the position outlined in the detailed Sligo Development Plan, which is a very large and detailed book / study drawn up by experts. I recommend people should go and read it. If people disagree with the experts and town planners, its not my fault, I am entitled to have my opinion too, and I happen to back the experts and town planners in their broad objectives. Of course people will have different opinions, and everyone would like shopping facilities close to them. Those from North Co. Sligo may ideally like a large supermarket on the Buundoran road near Sligo; those from Carraroe or south Sligo may like it closer to them. People who live in the town or walk to the shops or travel by public transport or who live in Strandhill or Rosses Point may find it more convenient if it was in Sligo itself, close to other shops + work etc. I have merely stated the obvious , and nobody has been able to contradict them. The point we are all agreed on is that Sligo does not have enough car parking. There are plans for a large and spacious multistorey, as well as other car parks, in town, and these will - if implemented - help allieviate the situation. There is no poinrt in repeating the facts , so this is my last post on this thread. Let people read the hundreds of pages in the Plan or listen to any qualified and experienced town planner.

Car Parking in Sligo - when will Borough Council increase it?

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