This article is from page 12 of the 2006-04-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
A NUMBER of business owners in the Shannon Town Centre are making a very public protest in an effort, they say, to have their voices heard by the management of SkyCourt and Clare County Council.
A large banner with the words “What has happened to Shannon Town Centre” was unfurled across the Supermacs building at the SkyCourt Centre last Thursday.
The banner was put in place by the Supermacs management with the support of a number of neighbouring businesses at the centre.
“The banner went up on Thursday and it will stay up until the powers that be tell us to take it down,” said David Nevin, the franchise holder for Supermacs in Shannon.
“It is a last-gasp effort on our part to ask the developers and Clare County Council to take a look at the planning situation in Shannon.”
A number of disagreements have emerged in recent months between a group of businesses and the management at the centre – the most notable being the parking situation at the centre. The businesses are worried that the barriers entering the parking lot are causing a disruption for customers and encouraging people to shop elsewhere.
“We are all losing revenue because of this. I’d say it could be as much as a 15 to 20 per cent drop across the board,” said Mr Nevin.
“I have spoken to a lot of tourists who have managed to find their way into the centre, and they have all asked why it is so difficult to find your way inside.
“A lot of people have stopped coming to the Shannon Town Centre and are choosing to go to other places where the parking is free and there are no long queues to get in and out at barriers.”
According to Mr Nevin, the group have met with the management of the town centre on a number of occasions but have had little satisfaction.
“We had a meeting with the management of the town centre before Christmas about removing the barriers and they said that if they were to remove them it would confuse the people,” said Mr Nevin.
“They are treating us like a bunch of culchies. They think we need to treat the place like a land-locked fortress.”
The Clare People attempted to contact the management of SkyCourt, but no response was forthcoming at the time of going to print.