Trim traders left fuming as street fails to reopen

Trim"s High Street remains closed to traffic this week despite assurances it would open on Monday, leaving local traders furious that the date to re-open the street to through traffic has been put back yet again. High Street is currently being upgraded as part of Trim Town Council"s €5m road restoration project and was due to close to traffic for the months of July and August. A late start on works and the builders" holidays meant a revised programme was submitted by the contractors, whereby the street was to re-open on Monday for traffic but this date has passed and there is still no sign of the street re-opening. Local butcher David Dempsey said he was told on Saturday that the street would not be open until 3rd September, another week-and-a-half behind schedule and that the roadworks would not be finished until sometime in October. 'It is scandalous and a disgrace. These lads sent in their new plan of work saying it would be opened on 25th August and then on Saturday they changed it again. A letter was sent around and they may as well have sent a copy of The Beano. They will probably change the date again,' he said. Mr Dempsey said he has seen at least a 25 per cent reduction in his business since the street works started and claimed he is losing about €1,500 per week. Irene Byrne, who runs the Spinning Wheel shop on High Street, said she could not open her shop on Monday because there was a big hole outside her door and they could not access the shop. She had to close her premises until after lunch that day when a walkway was put in place. Ms Byrne said that business was down for everyone on High Street. 'At one stage, I saw a lady looking at the shop from across the street and she turned away when she saw what she had to cross. I can"t say I blame her. I would do the same,' she said. Ms Byrne also feels that more could have been done to keep the businesses informed and that the first correpondence she received was on 13th August. Jan Way from James Allen Hair Design said: 'This is going on far too long. It"s ridiculous. The last thing we heard, it was supposed to open yesterday, and we"ve got nothing to say when it"s going to open. Still nobody has come around to tell us anything. Only for (local publican) Tommy Lenehan letting us park in his yard, I don"t know what we would do,' she added. Ms Way said her passing trade has been affected but added that her clients have been exceptionally loyal and that this was much appreciated. She also thanked Mr Lenehan for allowing workers and customers to park in his yard. Gordon Lacy from the Locksmiths on High Street said: 'Depending on who you ask, there is a different date. The workmen didn"t think the street would be done by the deadline on Monday (25th August). It"s only when they are under pressure that they are working long hours.' He said that the work has to be done but they did not think it would take that long and that business is down by 50 per cent. 'Some days it"s busy, but others it is not and the weather didn"t help. If people can"t drive down, they are not going to bother,' said Mr Lacy. Meanwhile, local councillor Ray Butler has said that businesses affected by the works should be compensated in some way when it comes to the rates. 'I feel we have to look after the businesses on High Street in some way in the rates. I feel that some form of compensation should be given towards the traders in some form,' he said. Cllr Butler added that he 'felt sorry for the rate man going up to collect money from them and that while he has to do his job, he may find it hard to get money from the traders'. He said that one of the biggest problems with the project was that they had lost the council"s overseeing engineer, Paul Donnellan, who was promoted to another area. Cllr Butler admitted there were a 'lot of angry people on High Street' and that people are 'frustrated by what is going on'.