News

Ballydehob traders form new body

December 17th, 2015 5:10 PM

By Southern Star Team

Ballydehob traders are annoyed about more yellow lines in the village.

Share this article

A new traders’ group has been formed in Ballydehob.

By Sarah Canty

 

A NEW traders’ group has been formed in Ballydehob.

The group of business people came together last week to form the new Ballydehob Traders’ Association.

The idea to create the association to promote local commerce had been discussed casually for months, but the finally push came after double yellow lines were painted by Cork County Council on Main St. 

The traders maintain there was no consultation with local businesses before the markings appeared on the street.

The twelve traders who attended the meeting all own businesses on Main Street and expressed annoyance that new parking restrictions were being introduced without their knowledge.

Traders say parking was already scarce in the village, and that the earlier extension of yellow lines had already affected regular business, due to the loss of convenient parking spaces. Traders now believe that even more tourists and  locals will be discouraged from stopping in the village because there is no obvious parking available.

‘We just want to keep what’s here. There isn’t that much business, but we just want to keep what’s going,’ said one trader at the meeting.

According to a statement from the County Council, the works ‘were co-ordinated with Ballydehob Community Council, who provided assurances that businesses had been consulted.  This was ultimately a decision made by An Garda Siochana with congestion along the main route having been a major problem.  Cork County Council provided instruction to the contractors on foot of the decision’.

Some residents welcome the addition of double yellow lines, especially on the east end of the village where foot traffic is particularly heavy and where cars, buses and lorries tend to bottleneck.

However, the group of traders felt that their concerns had not been heard. 

The first order of business of the newly-formed Ballydehob Traders Association is to arrange a meeting with the local Council engineer and members of An Garda Siochána to discuss the possibility of improving parking facilities in the town. 

The Ballydehob Community Council was not available for comment.

Share this article