Cork Business Association: City car ban ‘can’t be sole reason for drop off in trade’

The car ban on Cork’s main street can not be blamed solely for a fall in trade, a business expert has said.

Lawrence Owens, chief executive of the Cork Business Association (CBA), last night warned against negative commentary about the St Patrick’s St bus priority zone.

Reintroduced two weeks ago yesterday, traders have begun to voice their concerns again publicly.

Mr Owens said the CBA will not hide from the issues but he urged traders not to “over-amplify the negative”.

“The more we amplify, the more damage we do. We have to safeguard the brand that is Cork,” he said.

We acknowledge that businesses whose trade is down are hurting and are looking for reasons for this, but it is vital we focus on what are the real issues and look for constructive and realistic solutions.

City Hall released figures which show bus passenger numbers are up 20%, bus journey times have improved 30% and weekend footfall is up since the reintroduction of the car ban on August 9.

Mr Owens said supporting incentives helped and business sentiment was positive in the first six weeks. While the feedback from many sectors is generally positive, retail is suffering most.

However, he said people have to be “honest and realistic” about the challenges facing the retail sector in city centres everywhere.

“To assess the reasons for the decline in retail, specifically in Cork, are we saying the Patrick Street traffic restrictions are the main cause?” said Mr Owens.

This, in my view, would be an overtly-simplification of the issue and, of course, it’s much broader than that, and those wider issues are the ones that must be addressed

He said businesses must look at their own model and make the necessary changes — be that trading hours, their use of social media or shop appearance and so on.

However, he also said the “current dysfunctional local authority rates system” must be discussed and retailers need “real and meaningful support” to help them have an online presence where appropriate.

He said upgrades to the public car parks, including the North Main St car park, a structured street cleaning regime, a visible Garda presence, and legislation to manage buskers are among a series of “achievable quick wins” that could combine to make the city a more attractive, safer and easier place to visit and enjoy.

City Hall said that, despite poor weather, there was a 16% increase in footfall from September 13 to 16, a 15% increase from September 20 to 23, and a 22% increase from September 27 to 30 compared to the same periods last year.