Retail Ireland has said that new measures proposed under the Dublin City Centre Transport Study will have a 'very serious and damaging knock-on effect' on city centre retailers.
Along with industry body DublinTown, Retail Ireland said that any new transport plans should be subjected to 'robust impact assessment' prior to implementation.
“City centre retailers support efforts to improve Dublin’s public transport and the city’s environment for pedestrians and cyclists," said Retail Ireland chairman Conor Whelan. "However, these efforts should never come at the expense of private traffic access, to the point where large portions of the city centre are entirely inaccessible to shoppers who prefer to take their car.
"Dublin retailers have raised very serious concerns about the study’s proposals on car parking, tourist coach parking and crucially, the ability of commercial vehicles to conduct downtown deliveries. We are very disappointed that the measures were published without any consultation with Dublin’s retailers, which themselves play an enormous role in city life and generate a large portion of the DCC’s income through commercial rates.”
The group called on the authorities to liase closer with city centre businesses and relevant representative bodies going forward.
© 2015 - Checkout Magazine by Stephen Wynne-Jones
