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Chamber Of Commerce News
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Chamber Briefs May 2013:
Chamber Seeks Opinion On Pay For Parking
The issue of “Pay For Parking” was back on the agenda at Monday evening’s monthly Chamber meeting. North Tipperary County Council has asked the Chamber in line with the Town Enhancement Plan to take a lead in advising the Council on what changes if any the Chamber would like to see introduced to the current scheme.
One obvious improvement would be giving consumers more of an incentive to park in off street car-parks. However the main dilemma for the Chamber is whether or not the Chamber should lobby for 30 minutes or one hour free parking. The Council has informed the Chamber that the first hour is where the Council generates most of it’s revenue from “pay for parking”. If Roscrea was to have for example free parking for the first hour it would come at a cost as obviously revenue would be down which would impact of the Councils ability to fundraise various services and possible future development projects. In addition the Council have also pointed out that the current traffic warden is more than accommodating in giving people a discretionary amount of time if they are parking in town to complete a quick errand. This is usually in the region of fifteen to twenty minutes which the Chamber believes is very fair and are grateful for.
The Chamber will be meeting Council officials again next week. It is important that the Chamber are able to reflect the majority view of the retailers in Roscrea. In this regard the Chamber would be grateful if retailers could contact let their views be known to either the Chamber President Seamus Browne seamusbrowne@eircom.net or the Chamber Secretary Brian King bking@roscreacu.ie as soon as possible.
Painting Scheme Extended
Roscrea Chamber of Commerce has welcomed news that the “Painting Scheme” for main street, has been extended for two weeks. It is vital that as many retailers as possible avail of the scheme. To date the response has been most encouraging. Retailers that have not benefited from the generous grant available are urged to contact the Council as soon as possible.
Passing of Brendan Carmody
A vote of sympathy was passed on the passing of Brendan Carmody last week. Chamber delegates recalled the vast contribution Brendan gave to his adopted home of Roscrea. In particular the Chamber delegates spoke of Brendan’s great work with Tidy Towns and his tremendous interest in the history of the town and in particular his close association to Damer House and Roscrea Castle. Deepest sympathy is extended to his family. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
Shannon Development Site
The Chamber is looking for a meeting with the County Manager to discuss the vacant Shannon Development site at Benamore, Roscrea. The Chamber is of the opinion that this fully serviced site offers Roscrea the best chance of attracting new enterprise and new jobs into the town.
Roscrea Library:
Brian King and Michael Madden reported on their latest meeting with Tipperary County Library officials. The Chamber was disappointed with the news that for a number of reasons but predominantly health and safety reasons and staff resources there would be no return of Saturday opening hours at Roscrea library in the near future. The Chamber was given assurances that after the merger of North and South Tipperary County Councils, extra resources may be made available to facilitate a return to Saturday opening. The Chamber have always maintained that the library in Roscrea should be on an equal footing with the rest of the County and in order to maximise the Library services, the library needs to be open at times that are suitable to the public, especially if we are trying to encourage people to use library services on a more regular basis.
Roscrea Business Park:
A delegation of Chamber member met recently with Noel Coonan TD and the regional manager of Enterprise Ireland. Chamber President, Seamus Browne said that with Shannon Development as we know it set to be dissolved soon, the future of the Business Park is far from certain. The Chamber are trying to protect at least some of the twenty six acre park which it hopes will eventually evolve into something like the new enterprise centre now open in Thurles.
Anne Keegan:
Chamber Secretary Brian King paid tribute to Anne Keegan who retired recently from the Midland Tribune. The Secretary said that Anne was a wonderful person who was always an invaluable support to Roscrea Chamber Of Commerce and countless other organsiations and sports clubs in the locality. The Secretary commented that Anne had demonstrated tremendous commitment to the growth and development of the town of Roscrea and he wished her every success for the future.
Shop local:
The Chamber is currently engaged with a sub committee been led by Brian Colclough regarding the development of a “shop local campaign” in Roscrea. The Chamber embarked upon a similar campaign in Christmas 2011 which was reasonably successful. It is envisaged that this new initiative will be a more sustained campaign. More details will be announced soon.
Roscrea Chamber Of Commerce Support Painting Scheme:
At it’s recent monthly meeting Roscrea Chamber of Commerce thanked north Tipperary County Council for supporting a “Painting Scheme” aimed at the businesses on Main Street, Roscrea. €7000.00 was made available recently for the project. Chamber President Seamus Browne welcomed the announcement which he said would breathe new life into the street if supported.
Chamber Secretary and Chairman of the Town Enhancement Group, Brian King said that it was important that local businesses availed of the grants available. He said if the businesses on Main Street demonstrated this kind of leadership then he expected that the Council would be supportive of rolling the scheme out to other parts of the town.
The new grant will enable businesses located on the Main Street to purchase a kaleido-scope of colours to renew the town’s main thoroughfare.
The Council say they aim to support and encourage local people and businesses to invest in buildings to enhance the character and appearance of the historic town and promote local pride in the community for their hometown. As a general rule it is proposed that the use of strong colour combinations should be applicable to buildings that make a special contribution to the streetscape and character of the town – for example those that are located strategically on corners or at the end of streets. An application form for money to carry out painting work is available from North Tipperary County Council and has been circulated amongst local businesses in the last few days. The Council say that in order to ensure a coherent approach to the new scheme and how it is put into action, all colours will be agreed by the Local Authority prior to the applicants receiving a ‘provisional grant offer’. Colour cards with the proposed colour scheme for a building are to accompany all applications and the grant itself will be for materials only. The grant will be calculated based on the quantity and unit cost of paint required and will be paid out after the applicant submits a receipt from the paint supplier and work carried out in accordance with approved works.
Funding is available primarily for both residential and commercial properties for elements of the building visible from the street. 100% of the total cost of the paint, up to a maximum of €300 for residential properties and €500 for commercial properties, is available. Properties that are partial commercial and partial residential will be considered commercial premises for the purpose of the scheme.
In order to obtain the maximum benefit from the scheme in the event it is oversubscribed, grants will be allocated on a first come first served basis.
Completed application forms should be submitted by May 3rd and successful applicants will be notified in writing. The Council say that where an applicant has outstanding liabilities with any of the Local Authorities the grant will be only approved where the applicant agrees to offset the grant against those out-standing liabilities.
All the work must be completed by September 30th and receipts must be submitted by October 18th. For more information contact Anne-Marie Devaney at anndevaney@northtippcoco.ie or 067 44662.
Social Outing:
Fishing Trip/Slieve Blooms:
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Pictured recently on a Roscrea Chamber Of Commerce “Social Evening” were
Front Row L/R
Brian King (Chamber Secretary) and Jerry Cahir
Back L/R: Brian Colclough (Chamber President), Rowena Mitchell, Peter Tynan, Frank De Lewis Jnr, Anne Louise Mitchell, Olivia Harney, Brian Redmond, Niall Cahir, Jerry Cahir, Kyle Cahir and Tom Deegan. |
Chamber Of Commerce members and friends pictured on a recent social evening
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PJ Wright shows how it's done!
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Congratulations to Rowena Mitchell who caught the biggest fish of the night! The fishing took place at the recently opened “Laois Angling Centre” near Camross. The Chamber would like to thank Brendan Dwane for providing light refreshments after the fishing.
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Shannon Development announced on recently the appointment of two separate contactors to carry out infrastructural and landscaping work on phase one of the Roscrea Business and Technology Park at the Company¹s 26 acre site at Benamore, on the Dublin side of Roscrea, off the old Dublin road. At the contract signings were from front left: Brian Colclough, incmoming President Chamber of Commerce, Roscrea, Alice Morgan, Regional Development manager Shannon Development and Brian King, Chamber of Commerce Secretary. Back from left: Oliver Donlon, ISS Grangemore, Florrie Spillane, Current president Chamber of Commerce and John McCarthy, Priorty Construction. Pic Sean Curtin Press 22.
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