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How to improve Sligo!

L.Jenkins

I'm not a native, but the Wife is Sligo born and raised and we spent a bit of time there on weekends and overnights. I'm posting the thread, just to see how people from Sligo would improve the town itself.

Some of the more obvious things I can see, is the Quayside Shopping Centre and the number of vacant units. Is it rent costs and service charges that's keeping business away? Even time I do visit the Centre, it looks a bit dull, maybe it's the number of empty units and poor lighting.

The other, which I've seen proposed by a number of Sligo residents is the Pennys and Tesco outlets. Both are in desperate need of being updated. The other thing I can see is the need for free Car Parking in the Town and better broadband in the surrounding towns and areas.

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red sean

John_Rambo wrote: »

Right, thanks Sean.

Bloody hell, "We did the wrong thing last time, made a balls of it so we're not going to do our job anymore". Well done Sligo CoCo.

In fairness John, I think what they were saying is that we, ie the locals, always thought there was a public right of way in Lissadell, and then the ridiculously expensive court system decided otherwise, that the gamble is financially too big to prove one way or the other.

rizzodun

You would think that regardless of the Lissadell issue all the CoCo have to do is get the landowners into a room and ask what can be done to restore access and eliminate the responsibility of the landowners regarding insurance. If that is all the landowners are worried about surely the way to go is absolve them of that, and restore access.

Maybe I've dumbed it down a bit but at least explore the possibility rather than washing their hands of it because their scared about even having the discussion.

John_Rambo

rizzodun wrote: »

Maybe I've dumbed it down a bit but at least explore the possibility rather than washing their hands of it because their scared about even having the discussion.

Exactly. Simple dialogue is needed. This is a big issue, someones going to have to step up if Sligo County Council aren't capable. They proved themselves to be useless last time round by pushing too hard, are they going to prove themselves to be useless this time by doing nothing?

peasant

John_Rambo wrote: »

I've always been happy to park and walk around Sligo. Tourists are the same. They don't have the "must park at the door" obsession that locals have.

What's going on with the mountains? Is there an issue with access to the peaks?

A tourist information in the town center caters for the handful that have already made the conscious decision to go and have a look at Sligo ...you want to catch the thousands that just bypass it

Benbulben is THE major landmark, but access to it is almost secret ..no signposts (other than "private land keep off"), no guidance, no clear path to follow.
Compare that with access to Knocknarea, signposted with the mountain symbol all the way from the dual carriageway and you know what I mean.

red sean

I think the solution lies a lot higher than any Co Co. In my opinion it's time the Depts. of Tourism and Agriculture get together with the farming organisations and hammer out a solution nationally.
I am not a farmer and don't even come from a farming background, but I can see where farmers are coming from on this.
Only about two years ago a flock of sheep were chased out across the top of Ben Bulben by hillwalkers dogs. I know this is irresponsible dog ownership, but, it's gets all hillwalkers a bad name. The mountains of Ireland are beautiful for us and tourists to walk over, but they're a farmers workplace.
The problem on Ben Wisken I understand is resolved as long as permission is granted by the farmers involved and this situation will probably be similar given time.
The Tourism Dept. in particular, need to start realising how big an attraction this type of holiday/pastime can be, and get all problems like this sorted on a national scale.

thebuzz

red sean wrote: »

On the south facing side of the mountain, access has been closed by two farmers whose land adjoins the access point known locally as the 'green road'.
As a result, Sligo CoCo asked for submissions from locals on the matter.
I spoke to one of the men involved and their fear is accident/insurance related as this 'road' is on their title deeds as a 'right of way' for them only.
CoCO responded some weeks later to say, in a nutshell', that as a result of the Lissadell ruling they were not getting involved, and that there is still access to the mountain via 'Lukes bridge' on the west facing side.

Can someone send me a link on Google maps as to where both these places are? Have no idea. Thanks.

red sean

Going from Sligo, turn right at Bens Hardware store and take the first left (approx 700mts). At the top of that road as it swings left the 'Green road' is straight ahead of you.
For Lukes Bridge, after Cashelgarron turn right for Ballintrillick and then take the second right, theres a small car park about 2km up .

rizzodun

thebuzz wrote: »

Can someone send me a link on Google maps as to where both these places are? Have no idea. Thanks.

I think this is probably better...

http://mountainviews.ie/summit/402/comment/6737/?PHPSESSID=69hcbs9ckq4t5df59d6c792114

thebuzz

red sean wrote: »

For Lukes Bridge, after Cashelgarron turn right for Ballintrillick and then take the second right, theres a small car park about 2km up .

Is that on the road where the Council water supply place is or am I thinking of a different area?

red sean

Ya, thats it Buzz. I live in the Maugherow area and it's been a while since I was up there so my distances may be a bit out!.

worlds goodest teecher

Was in Donegal Town a few weeks ago. The town looks really well, low numbers of unoccupied shops and loads of people around. Me thinks the 50c per hour for parking has helped with that. It's a shame Sligo is almost the complete opposite in all departments

Chinasea

What is the obsession with cars in Sligo. It is the ruination of the town. I tried to take a few photos down town, but every which way was blighted by a dam car ugly car park.

There is a serious lack of green/foilage trees in the town too, and the gray tatty housing estates with their grim concreted front gardens, just add to the grayness. Plant some trees Sligo, in fact Tescos are selling trees this week for €3.99.

There is no question, but the town should be pedestrianised.

malibu4u

A bit of grass and a few trees would be nice all right. Its very drab, especially on a wet day. In December it was impossible to get parked anywhere. There are some derelict buildings between the inner relief road, where most people come in to town from, and the town centre. Level them, make more car parking spaces there and keep the price cheap, say 50 cents an hour max. Then people will stop for a coffee or snack or refreshments. I was talking to a mini-bus driver recently, he never stops in Sligo, but he would like to if it was attractive enough to do so.

worlds goodest teecher

malibu4u wrote: »

A bit of grass and a few trees would be nice all right. Its very drab, especially on a wet day. In December it was impossible to get parked anywhere. There are some derelict buildings between the inner relief road, where most people come in to town from, and the town centre. Level them, make more car parking spaces there and keep the price cheap, say 50 cents an hour max. Then people will stop for a coffee or snack or refreshments. I was talking to a mini-bus driver recently, he never stops in Sligo, but he would like to if it was attractive enough to do so.

I always thought that Stephens St car park would great developed as a small public park with hard standings created for markets and small concerts, but what are the chances of the Council giving up revenue from parking for the benefit of the town and its people? None.

On another point, when are the footpaths in the town going to be finished? The footpaths on Wine St look great and clean, the complete opposite of the Grattan St and Castle St paths.

Mint Sauce

worlds goodest teecher wrote: »

I always thought that Stephens St car park would great developed as a small public park with hard standings created for markets and small concerts, but what are the chances of the Council giving up revenue from parking for the benefit of the town and its people? None.

On another point, when are the footpaths in the town going to be finished? The footpaths on Wine St look great and clean, the complete opposite of the Grattan St and Castle St paths.

Surely you mean the Castle and Gratten St one look great, as they were done last year.

Although I'm waiting for the Coco amd IW to get their act together so O'Connell St can be done, hopefully before the Fladh.

worlds goodest teecher

Mint Sauce wrote: »

Surely you mean the Castle and Gratten St one look great, as they were done last year.

Although I'm waiting for the Coco amd IW to get their act together so O'Connell St can be done, hopefully before the Fladh.

No, I mean the paving on Wine St. (Maybe it is only on one side) looks great. The paving on Castle St./Gratten St. although much better than the previous in-situ concrete paths, they are dull and grubby.

SprostonGreen

Clamp and impound cars that ignorantly parked by their ignorant owners, ie, wherever they like. Bridge st, High st at the electrical store and Grattan st all manner of imbeciles park here and not a thing is done about it. Clamped and impounded with a €300 release fee, that might put manners on them.

Now they're parking right outside the post office. Bastards.

Mint Sauce

SprostonGreen wrote: »

Clamp and impound cars that ignorantly parked by their ignorant owners, ie, wherever they like. Bridge st, High st at the electrical store and Grattan st all manner of imbeciles park here and not a thing is done about it. Clamped and impounded with a €300 release fee, that might put manners on them.

Now they're parking right outside the post office. Bastards.

Dont see the point in Clamping, as the car will still be causing an obstuction, but now its immovable until the owner pays or sneakely removes the clamp, or the car is impounded.

rizzodun

I was in town at 11 this morning and I saw two tourist groups walking around the town with nearly all the shops closed.

I understand it's a bank holiday but the business in the town need to come to some sort of collective agreement about trading hours, the more shops open, the bigger chance of people travelling to Sligo on a day like today to spend some money.

At 11:00, all that was open on O'Connell st. was Easons, Penneys and Boots, Johnston's court was shut and had no opening hours for today on it, neither did Three, and a lot of other shops I walked by it was the same story. Anyone who happened to make the trip to or stopped by Sligo would have had no idea if any of these shops were opening at all. Business might take a bit of a hit on a bank holiday but if the impression was that the whole town was open for business then maybe people would make the journey in to the town centre that the chamber of commerce and the businesses spend so much time complaining that isn't happening right now.

il gatto

If the numbers were there and consistant/predictable, they would open. It's not a case of not bothering or needing some multi business consensus. If you have a struggling business you won't pay staff double time on a bank holiday knowing full well that you may not have a single customer. Two tourist groups is what, two coachloads? 100 people. You'd need 5 times that before it's be viable to open many shops.
Sligo needs a serious push from Tourism ireland to kick start a tourist trade. Less p/ssing money away on Yeats day (do it but don't expect many people to come because of a poet) and the like and a commitment to push Sligo abroad. I've heard many times from tourists that they had to ask people at tourism shows etc. for stuff about Sligo which was buried in a box or they just didn't have. Nobody wants to risk taking anything from the Killarneys, Galways and Westports I suppose.
A low budget ad on RTE with a view of the footbridge and someone reciting Yeats was the best Sligo got.

rizzodun

Is it still compulsory to pay double pay on bank holidays?

My point was that people will continue to overlook Sligo if the impression persists that Sligo isn't open for business.

The old saying 'you've got to spend money to make money' comes into mind here, you say the numbers are not consistant or predictable, maybe that is because people know there's no point coming to Sligo on days like that because everywhere is closed?

I used to work in a place where the opinion was that it wasn't worth opening on bank holidays, when it got taken over the new owners used to open every bank holiday, the opinion was that they may not make money, but it shows to anyone that is passing through that they're open, I saw first hand that their sales grew steadily over the next 3 years, a lot of it down to this sort of attitude when running their business, no expensive advertising or cutting of prices.

The 100 tourists I saw was in less than 1 hour, I'd imagine that if the perception changed regarding Sligo the town could easily pull in 5 times that amount.

By the way, whether shops and businesses opened on the bank holiday, kudos to most of them for pushing Sligo in general as a place to visit, as you have mentioned, the odd event day and small ad's on TV just show that most businesses in Sligo cannot rely on the local government and chamber to push Sligo as a viable place to visit, it's the public and businesses doing all the work.

John_Rambo

I really think locals need to support local business. That's why restaurants and shops close. They're not supported in the down time, off season.

I'm probably preaching to the converted here seeing as you're all logging on here trying your best to improve your town. So don't flame me!

Hope to be back to Sligo soon! The jewel of the North West.

sligono1

One start would be if the bankrupt council gave the traffic wardens the weekens off and introduced free parking bar dublin belfast I find it so expensive to park.

It's a start and build on it but agree with others on struggling shops that don't have the footfall to open its finical sucicide if the numbers don't crunch.

It was proposed in the past to bring the farmers market into town on a Saturday morn but the wise greedy men who have destroyed sligo from the chamber refused it.if even during the summer months it would have created a buzz a spectacle

The fleadh was great and made sligo wow but it has not been built on,such a pitty

Chinasea

sligono1 wrote: »

One start would be if the bankrupt council gave the traffic wardens the weekens off and introduced free parking bar dublin belfast I find it so expensive to park.

The fleadh was great and made sligo wow but it has not been built on,such a pitty

We are back focusing on the "car is king" theme again. Parking/access for cars will not, never, ever save a town. Moreso, however kill it. Park by all means in the town, but dig down, build some badly needed underground parking if you insist on parking right in the town. Hide the damn things, as said, the town is blighted by gray grim car parks strewn all over the place.

Is your only way of gaining access to your town via your car, is it really? Could you walk, could you cycle, could you not take a bus. Of course I know this is not possible for everyone, but for many it absolutely is.

As for the Fleadh. What a wonderful opportunity this is. The car has no place here, nor will it play any role. In fact, the town will be free from cars. (I'd hope).

And what about all the closed shops sitting idle - shopping as we know it is dead (on-line, outa town supermarkets etc., have all assisted in this demise). So why let the empty shops fester and rot. Why not rezone them back for families to live in. If this were to happen this would generate the need again for some local, smaller shops, which would in turn bring some life back in the town.

sligono1

You sound like a your having a good auld troll there,or your car has let you down.cheer up you need to get out to the country to for a drive get on your bike or get the bus,leave the grey of the town behind you and see the the colours of the country,you will feel better after.

fillefatale

sligono1 wrote: »

You sound like a your having a good auld troll there,or your car has let you down.cheer up you need to get out to the country to for a drive get on your bike or get the bus,leave the grey of the town behind you and see the the colours of the country,you will feel better after.

They talk sense. That's not the definition of an internet troll ... :rolleyes:

Mint Sauce

Chinasea wrote: »

We are back focusing on the "car is king" theme again. Parking/access for cars will not, never, ever save a town. Moreso, however kill it. Park by all means in the town, but dig down, build some badly needed underground parking if you insist on parking right in the town. Hide the damn things, as said, the town is blighted by gray grim car parks strewn all over the place.

Is your only way of gaining access to your town via your car, is it really? Could you walk, could you cycle, could you not take a bus. Of course I know this is not possible for everyone, but for many it absolutely is.

As for the Fleadh. What a wonderful opportunity this is. The car has no place here, nor will it play any role. In fact, the town will be free from cars. (I'd hope).

And what about all the closed shops sitting idle - shopping as we know it is dead (on-line, outa town supermarkets etc., have all assisted in this demise). So why let the empty shops fester and rot. Why not rezone them back for families to live in. If this were to happen this would generate the need again for some local, smaller shops, which would in turn bring some life back in the town.

The problem with parking in town is, there is no incentive to bring your car in. 1.20 per hour with a max stay of 2hrs, including sundays and bank holidays, in car parks that have not been resurfaced since they were laid.

I would be in town most days I'm off, and nearly always park in either The Quayside or The Glasshouse. Atleast in them, there is less chance of returning to my car too see dings in the door.

rizzodun

Chinasea wrote: »

We are back focusing on the "car is king" theme again. Parking/access for cars will not, never, ever save a town. Moreso, however kill it. Park by all means in the town, but dig down, build some badly needed underground parking if you insist on parking right in the town. Hide the damn things, as said, the town is blighted by gray grim car parks strewn all over the place.

Is your only way of gaining access to your town via your car, is it really? Could you walk, could you cycle, could you not take a bus. Of course I know this is not possible for everyone, but for many it absolutely is.

As for the Fleadh. What a wonderful opportunity this is. The car has no place here, nor will it play any role. In fact, the town will be free from cars. (I'd hope).

And what about all the closed shops sitting idle - shopping as we know it is dead (on-line, outa town supermarkets etc., have all assisted in this demise). So why let the empty shops fester and rot. Why not rezone them back for families to live in. If this were to happen this would generate the need again for some local, smaller shops, which would in turn bring some life back in the town.

While I agree about hiding the car parking, you have to remember that probably the main problem with Sligo is that the population of Sligo alone is not enough to keep most businesses open, they need outside visitors, hence, the need for cars.

John_Rambo

rizzodun wrote: »

While I agree about hiding the car parking, you have to remember that probably the main problem with Sligo is that the population of Sligo alone is not enough to keep most businesses open, they need outside visitors, hence, the need for cars.

I visit Sligo and walk from my accommodation to the town. When I was too far out I'd drive and park on the outskirts. Cars do actually kill towns. I preferred when some of Sligo was partially pedestrianised. You're more likely to wander in to a shop if your walking than driving, and adventure tourists wouldn't have a problem walking. Did I see a traveler camp in a car park in Sligo a few years ago? That's certainly going to make a car park an ugly redundant eyesore!

rizzodun

John_Rambo wrote: »

I visit Sligo and walk from my accommodation to the town. When I was too far out I'd drive and park on the outskirts. Cars do actually kill towns. I preferred when some of Sligo was partially pedestrianised. You're more likely to wander in to a shop if your walking than driving, and adventure tourists wouldn't have a problem walking. Did I see a traveler camp in a car park in Sligo a few years ago? That's certainly going to make a car park an ugly redundant eyesore!

While I would like to see Sligo pedestrianised it'll leave only one way from the south side to the north side of the town, that can cause difficulties on days where there are large numbers of people passing through, I think that has to be sorted first, the current layout of the inner relief road can't handle the traffic.

Agreed about the walking to town, but the people Sligo need to visit here are from other towns, most of those will not be familiar with Sligo, and the nearest 'out of town parking', if that is the preferred choice for car parking we're on about here, is the retail park (a good 15 - 20 minute walk), Cleveragh business park (15 min walk) or Connaughton road where the travellers are, with no regular bus services it's not the best choices on a wet and windy day for shopping in Sligo, no wonder many out of towners head for parking in the town centre.