Growing chorus of voices to postpone Navan street works

A clear consensus is emerging among traders in Watergate Street and Market Square in Navan that the town council should back off its controversial reconstruction and refurbishment scheme for the street until after Christmas. Individual traders canvassed for their opinion at the weekend are adamant that any movement towards start of excavation and construction work before Christmas would destroy seasonal trade in the street and add to congestion throughout the entire town. 'This is not just a Watergate Street thing', one trader said. 'Congestion of traffic would run right through Trimgate Street and beyond. The whole thing promises to be a nightmare'. The traders have also hit out at what they see as a total lack of proper communication on the council"s part. They claim that they have been left in a state of uncertainty because of the dearth of information about the proposed scheme. Navan Retailers" Association has already called for the postponement of the scheme until after Christmas. Brendan O"Dea of the association said that because the economic downturn is starting to affect local businesses, the town"s traders are very worried that prolonged works in the area will have a devastating effect on business following a dismal trading period for some retailers in the town last year as a result of the work on Kennedy Place, which removed a large number of car parking spaces. 'Christmas is the most important time for any trader and the Christmas shopping period begins in November and if any of that is lost it has a detrimental effect on business', he said, calling for the scheme to be put back to January when business was slack. He warned that if work continued up to Christmas, it would cause traffic chaos, reduce parking and devastate business for the second year in a row. Jeweller Mary Walsh, whose family-run business in its fifth generation at Watergate Street, said that when the council proposed starting the scheme in September, they had written to the council with objections. She said they had suggested the traders get together with the officials so that the traders could put forward their ideas, and so that they would know what was in the council"s mind about the scheme. 'There was not even the courtesy of a rely,' she said. 'They said they would notify us when the plan for the street was approved. They never did. The lack of communication is causing unrest among the traders. We certainly have some practical ideas which would prove less costly in the implementation of the scheme,' she added. She said they had then written to Transport Minister Noel Dempsey and 'he had graciously informed us that he would write to the County Manager about the situation'. She added: 'The manager"s reply meant absolutely nothing. It was almost as if we hadn"t raised the matter at all. What annoys us is the lack of communication.' Mrs Walsh said that a particular problem had arisen with the design of the scheme on the western side of the street. A number of premises there were listed and protected buildings and what they were now going to get under the proposed schemes were modern railings and ramps. Most serous of all, she said, was the projected loss to the street of six parking spaces. Ms Walsh"s son, Ronan, said that if the council started work in early September, they proposed to stop for a month from 1st December. But he claimed that this would be too late to save the Christmas trade. At the Wine Buff, Franck le Moenner said he did not feel he would be adversely affected by the scheme but was concerned at the lack of communication between council officials and the traders. 'That lack of communication about the project is causing a very bad atmosphere on the street,' he said. He added that he and other traders were concerned about the visual effect the scheme might have on listed buildings, including the Wine Buff. At Mullen"s menswear shop, Annie Mullen said there had been talk of starting work on the scheme in September. 'That"s far too near Christmas. They should put it off until after the Christmas period. Their timing is desperate,' she said. Hairdresser Gerry Barry said he was very much against the scheme. 'In my opinion, the scheme was never necessary and it"s not necessary now. It won"t be good for the town. There is just no need for it in the present economic climate,' was his view. Publican Clem Galligan said: 'Whatever they"re going to do, they"re going to do. They have no regard for people"s views or feelings and the lack of communication at the moment is just typical. They are just driving more and more people out of the town,' he added.