‘Negative impact’ delay admission on Irish Street scheme

‘Negative impact’ delay admission on Irish Street scheme

22 May 2019

A LEADING government department has finally admitted that the delayed public realm scheme at Irish Street in Downpatrick has had a “negative impact” on trading across the town.

In what is being viewed as an apology to traders, the Department for Infrastructure has also conceded that more should have been done to keep the business community affected by the overrunning project better informed.

Last week, representatives from virtually every business in Irish Street took part in a public protest at the delay in completing the near £700,000 environmental improvement scheme which is hitting them in the pocket.

Work on a revamp scheme to provide new granite paving, street lighting and furniture was due to complete at the end of March, but it was revealed a few weeks ago that it will now be the end of June before contractors are finally off site.

Significant problems, which the Department for Infrastructure has described as “unforeseen works issues”, including the discovery of asbestos piping by BT Openreach along both sides of Irish Street, delayed progress by eight weeks.

Contractors also encountered problems with the foundations of the old blast wall at the former PSNI station and part of the sewerage network.

While traders are fully supportive of the regeneration scheme, they are angry that the project will take more than twice as long to complete than originally planned and that they were not better informed by the government department over recent weeks.

In addition, many have expressed surprise at the design of the scheme which has resulted in the narrowing 

of one of the town’s main streets at its junction with John Street and a loss of parking spaces. 

A number of traders have also questioned why a second footpath has been provided on one side of the street given one was already in place.

As traders staged their protest last week, a short distance away members of a steering group set up to oversee the public realm scheme met at Down Arts Centre to discuss the business community’s concern.

Traders want the scheme finished as soon as possible to pave they way for the return of two-way traffic and to encourage people to shop at this part of the town. Some say while those carrying out the work are obliging, they are not responsible the delay or the lack of communication.

Businesses are also hoping that customers they have not seen for some time will return when Irish Street returns to a sense of normality. 

They say the loss of parking spaces has impacted on trade with the work forcing people not to use one of the town’s main car parks nearby.

During last week’s protest, one trader revealed that her business has been forced to go mobile, visiting the homes of elderly people who cannot safely access her premises in the town centre due to the public realm scheme.

Restaurant owner Mizba Uddin says things have been “terrible” for his business since work on the project began.

“The business has literally collapsed,” he declared, standing outside his restaurant surrounded by barriers used by contractors.

“The situation is very, very bad and we have even have people driving down the one-way system the wrong way. Parking spaces have been lost as a result of the work and not all will be returned when the scheme is completed. People are going elsewhere as we do not provide a delivery service.”

Mizba said one of his main concerns has been the lack of communication from those overseeing the project. He also urged those in charge of the scheme to talk to traders to let them know what is going on.

He added: “I was told that the scheme would end in March and have heard nothing since. I am relying on other people to tell me what is going on but it should not be like this. I cannot even clean my windows because there is so much dust everywhere.

“Summer time can be quiet for me. Everyone in Irish Street wants this project completed as quickly as possible. As the work continues, there are simply no customers going to any of the shops. The work is killing businesses.”