Cllr Seamie Moore called for a facility for businesses impacted by the construction of the Kilcullen Rd active travel scheme to spread their 2023 and 2024 rates over three years at April's Municipal District Meeting.
Businesses can already agree a repayment schedule with the rates collector should they feel the need to. More on the current challenges facing local businesses paying rates can be found here.
I put forward a motion late last year to the effect that the National Transport Authority (NTA) invoke the support scheme in existence for just these circumstances and I await an update from KCC on this.
However, the attitude that businesses have lost out due to the active travel scheme is not what is needed here. This tends to vilify the new scheme, and creates negative feelings around this long overdue and very worthwhile infrastructure.
Instead I asked the Council, with the support of the funds at the seven Municipal District Councillors (c. €1.2mln in local property tax) to initiate a campaign to shop local. The tagline, borrowed from my hometown of Tuam in the 90s – Keep your town in business by keeping your business in town.
Council resources could be put to good use in a campaign that would aim to change consumer behaviour and habits in the medium to long term for the sustainability of our bricks and mortar businesses.
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