Preparing for life on the streets but not as we know it
MEMBERS of Castleisland Chamber Alliance held a conference call with representatives of the Castleisland Corca Dhuibhne Municipal District recently.
Optimism reigns in the former, indomitable market town in an era where laws and rules will have to be of the light touch variety and to mould themselves to brand new realities of life as we’re getting to know it.
From the meeting the chamber team detected what they described as ‘a major desire to facilitate as far as possible a return to business in the new normal, especially as the shared feeling was that restrictions may be lifted earlier than planned.’
“The purpose of the meeting was to understand, from an council’s perspective, the requirements of the Castleisland town businesses and also for the chamber and businesses to understand where the council is coming from,” said chamber chairman, Michael John Kearney.
The locals will be looking for guidelines in developing extra, outside facilities, new ways of trading with protocols and practices for doing business in an utterly changed and highly charged environment.
Vitally important matters for the resumption of business will be the funding, licensing and planning implications of this new way of thinking on your feet and on your street.
Food outlets, businesses, bar operators and other retailers have been consulted by the chamber.
“The chamber’s view is that an innovative approach with speed, flexibility and light touch bureaucracy are vital as we trial, change and adjust to find the most effective ways to go forward as the various restrictions are eased,” said Mr. Kearney.
“Peoples livelihoods are at risk and emotions will be running high. We can’t be restricted in our response by overly bureaucratic requirements,” he continued.
“Early, and clear communication from Kerry County Council to the businesses of the town, through its management, planners and safety officers will be vital also, to enable any new arrangements to be put in place speedily and safely.
“All new arrangements must be capable of sustaining business beyond the summer, into autumn and winter, so covered solutions will be needed outside of premises and on the street, where practical.
A town and village scheme, recently announced could be the source of funding for expenditures required in the town to accelerate a return to 100% business level.
“There is both an accelerated and normal process within this scheme with July 3rd. and August 14th. closing dates for the former and the municipal district team must be central to the preparation of the application.
“It is the councils view that canopies and awnings should be of standard colour, and design and the standards will be defined by the planners and bearing in mind the façade of the buildings in focus.
“The chamber’s view is that speed, flexibility and light touch bureaucracy is needed. Early, and clear communication from the planners to the businesses of the town, is vital also, to enable any new arrangements to be put in place.
“The municipal district administrators should also negotiate a volume deal with suppliers and seek to have these canopies included under the towns and villages scheme funding.
The chamber’s findings show that a big increase in outside space is the key requirement and the council’s preference is for clusters and hubs of tables and seating shared by multiple outlets, and covered for adverse weather conditions.
“But” Mr. Kearney said “this equipment must be purchased under the towns and villages funding scheme and no license fees should be applied as business grapples with the changes and try to hang on in there until we get through this crisis.
“The chamber is of the view that each outlet should, if required be allowed to supplement this proposal with facilities on the outside of their premises also at no license fee cost.
All the ongoing costs of running these hubs must be carried by the MD – Hand sanitiser, daily cleaning, rubbish collection, etc – otherwise it will not work.
The extra spaces are needed to allow for social distancing, as will be in force at the time, hand sanitisation, and respiratory etiquette, to be properly practiced. Safety and health of both customers and staff is the key objective.
There is a feeling that schools, and business lunchtimes if not staggered will challenge the capacities available in shops and food outlets. But then most of the schools have their in-house catering facilities which could overcome the need for students to venture onto the streets at this vital time of day.
In the chamber’s view the creation of a E-commerce platform is vital to ensuring that the town can compete on line. A gift card scheme is being designed under the auspices of a support your local town initiative.
The chamber is also calling for parking free zones in areas of the town the members have identified as suitable for outdoor seating. They are also appealing for patience from traffic wardens and Gardai in dealing with elderly customers / drivers under the strangeness of it all.
They would also like to see public houses being able to share in the proposed outdoor clustering of tables and chairs in our proposed, new tented village approach to life.
In this new world of alfresco eating and drinking, knee length socks, long johns and overcoats may become the new must have pieces of apparel ‘going forward’ – as the politicians like to say.
In rounding off the chamber’s wish list, Michael John Kearney went out on an optimistic note:
“We look forward to working with the municipal district and our councillors in bringing Castleisland back into full flow for the summer ahead,” he concluded.
If we really are in this together, where is the Bank of Ireland now as a punch drunk Castleisland business community struggles to its feet after months of lock-down.
Bank of Ireland was one of the first business in Castleisland to ‘pull the plug’ in the face of the increasingly darkening news in March.
There are people here who feel strongly that the bank stole away under the cover of that darkness and will not darken the doors of Castleisland again.
If anyone out there in banking land knows, wouldn’t it be only courtesy to let the people of the area know.
That the Bank of Ireland failed to appoint a successor to its last Castleisland branch manager Paddy Garvey after his retirement in 2017 was a harbinger of things to come.
The March evacuation of the services here seemed to follow that same inevitable course of action.
As a great and proven survivor, this little town deserves the attentions and respect of all our elected representatives and people who sit in positions of responsibility and power.
It has been through bloodshed and terror, turmoil and war and has had some of its most prominent buildings burned to the ground at various times.
But they were rebuilt by the resilience of the natives.
It is that spirit that will get us all back on track and prove that we are indeed ‘All in this Together.’