Clonmel Park Hotel has been the venue for a half-day conference organised by the town’s Chamber of Commerce recently.

The first of its kind, the conference entitled “Shaping up for Success”, was co-ordinated by the Chamber in response to a concern that business in the town centre is suffering and is no longer the ‘key economic driver it once was’, losing out to other locations. “Shaping up for Success” had been in the planning stages for approximately eight months and was conceived in order to analyse the existing problems and to commence a process that will return Clonmel to a thriving business hub.

Chamber of Commerce President Declan Byrne commented: “It is the first time that there has been a conference to express the concerns of traders in the town. Up until quite recently, the businesses in town have been holding up quite well. This hasn’t been the case for the past two years and it has been a concern of the Chamber.”

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Some of the primary issues of contention for Clonmel town have been the increasing problem of parking, the failure of An Bord Pleanála to recognise the need for a multi-storey car park and the lack of adequate retail space for potential investors. Mr. Byrne added: “One of the main issues that Clonmel traders have had is to do with parking, convenient parking, in order to get closer to the shops in Clonmel. The parking issue goes on then to a multi-storey car park. That has been a burning issue for several years and the Chamber has spent a considerable amount of time in pursuing a multi-storey car park.”

A task force was set up to deal with this about three years ago which incorporated the Chamber of Commerce, the Gardaí and political representatives on the council. Several proposals were unsuccessful at the time for various reasons.

The conference was considered a success, as 88 people attended. There was a small representation of Clonmel traders present, perhaps reflecting the time and day of the conference but overall the organisers were satisfied. The general feeling was that in future the Clonmel Chamber of Commerce, the Clonmel Borough Council and the town’s traders should work more closely going forward. There is a follow-up conference planned by the Chamber at the end of September, which will envisage a Clonmel of the future. “Shaping up for Success” highlighted the negatives and the solutions needed and the next planned conference will highlight where those solutions lie.

(LC)