Businesses blast ‘maze of bollards’ blocking footfall

Businesses in Navan's Church Hill and Bedford Place say trade is suffering with a huge drop in footfall since work began on the Navan 2030 project in the area.

Customers are staying away because they cannot negotiate the maze of bollards blocking off footpaths, the lack of parking is deterring shoppers, noise and dust is driving people elsewhere and water outages forced at least one local premises to close for two days.

"It is a disaster," says Stephen Brennan of Grind House Coffee Shop. "It has been going on too long. Footfall is down. Last week, I closed for the week because they were digging outside my door and people couldn't get in and out. The week before that I had no running water and had to close for a day and a half.

"They were cutting stones outside during hot weather. We had to close the door because of dust and noise but the heat was terrible. Footfall is down terribly. The businesses are all blocked off. People don't know where to go. You have to walk down almost to the Newgrange Hotel and then come back up to get access.

"I get that they are trying to make things better, but it is a nightmare for local businesses."

"We should be getting a rebate on rates," he said.

Emer Iqbal of the dog grooming service, Royal Paws, said that customers are reluctant to leave their pets with her because the effect the noise would have on them.

"Business is down very badly and there is no indication of when it will end.

"The lack of parking is a big problem and people are confused how to get into us. It is like a maze outside," she said.

Local chemist, Joe Staunton said footfall is way down. "People avoid anywhere that looks like a building site. Navan is turning away customers because of the lack of parking. They seem to think that personal transport is a thing of the past but it isn't and people still want parking spaces.

"They have cut down on the number of parking spaces in the area. They have given residential parking spaces to local residents, but also to local businesses. I am prepared to park off street in order to reserve parking spaces for customers. We need to release more parking spaces in the daytime to the buying public," he said.

"I know you cannot have improvement without roadworks, but cutting parking spaces is a major problem.

"We also have to help ourselves. There Is an issue with people leaving bins out for days before collection time, leaving the lovely work they have done covered in stains.

"I hope now the council will have the budget to maintain and clean the new works," he said.

Thomas McElroy of the Navan Cycle Centre said the issue was simple. "The council runs the town, the town needs businesses, businesses need people and people need parking.

"They try to hoodwink people by telling them there is parking at Tara Na Ri or at St Pat’s. On a typical inclement Irish day, how is a woman with a six year old and a child in a buggy, using an umbrella supposed to shop?" he asked.

"If people come into town to shop, they want it to be pleasant. When they cannot get parking in Navan, they choose to go elsewhere."

A spokesperson for Meath County Council said it was recognised that any public works, such as those at Church Hill and Bedford Place, can result in a level of inconvenience and disruption to businesses, property owners, and the public in general.

"The completion of these works however will result in a greatly improved streetscape and pedestrian facilities that local businesses and the public should benefit from.

"It is noted that a scheduled Uisce Éireann outage was undertaken as part of recent watermain upgrade works and, in addition to the standard Uisce Éireann notice protocols, a letter drop was conducted in advance to notify businesses of the out of hours temporary watermain shutdown (from 7pm on Tuesday 8th July, until 1am on Wednesday 9th July).

"The Navan 2030 Project Team is continuing to liaise with businesses in this area and appreciates their forbearance and understanding while these important upgrade works are being completed," he concluded.