Arklow resident wants to unlock town’s potential
An Arklow resident has issued a call to arms to the community to pull together to unlock its true potential.
Colette Hopper who moved to Harbour Road two and a half years ago says she is dismayed at the lack of investment at local government and state level in the town she has chosen to make her home.
‘I lived and worked in Australia for over 20 years and I moved to Arklow a few years ago because I absolutely love the town. It is a wonderful place full of great people but I can’t help but feel disappointed when I see it being forgotten and left behind. Parts of it just look so neglected and run down and it shouldn’t be this way,’ she says.
Colette who walks daily was inspired to share her views when she noticed that the South Quay area down as far as the South Beach was being covered in dog excrement and litter constantly.
‘I walk down past Roadstone and down to the beach and it is magnificent. However, there are no services, no toilets, nowhere to have a cup of coffee and the entire area looks run down. The roads are covered in dog dirt and there is rubbish dumped everywhere. A few simple changes could really improve the area and make it much more attractive to tourists. I met two people from the UK recently who were walking around down there and I had to direct them up to the Main Street because there is nothing down this end of the town,’ she said.
She says that she believes a lot more could be done to make the town more attractive to tourists.
‘I was looking up brochures recently as I had relatives coming from the US and there was hardly a mention of the Arklow area in the ones I found. Certain attractions in the county are highly promoted but nothing down here and that must be rectified. There has to be some funding available to help Arklow come back to life again. There is no reason it couldn’t be just like Dun Laoghaire,’ she says. Colette says that by starting the debate, that ‘people power’ will take over and that more people will get involved.
‘I would love to see people getting together and seeing what could be achieved. Hopefully people power will get things moving and more people will join and lobby for more funding and more investment in the town. I know the treatment plant is not ready yet but we simply cannot wait until it is finished to start any sort of project.’