LIMERICK City and County Council says that many city centre traders are not maintaining the build-outsย installed by the local authority as a support measure during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Constructed in 2021 as part of an effort to support struggling businesses, the plans received unanimous support from Metropolitan District councillors and local traders at the time.
However, at September’s Metropolitan area meeting, Director of Environment Kieran Lehane told Council members that some of the build-outs are now in very poor condition.
“The understanding was that the businesses would maintain the build-outs and, sadly, that has not been the case. A lot of them now are simply just outdoor smoking areas,” Mr Lehane told the Council.
“The issue here is, we will be marked down by IBAL (Irish Business Against Litter), so we’re beginning to talk to premises about them to see what we can do to improve them. They’re four years old at this stage and some of them are in very poor condition, through wear and tear.”
Other build-outs, Mr Lehane explained, are in risk of falling, something the local authority is keeping under active review.
Fine Gael councillor Dan McSweeney took the view that build-outs in the city have become “a litter zone”.
He told the Council executive that if they decided in the morning to remove them, he would be happy to support such a move.
“If they’re not being used in the proper manner and if they’re not being maintained, we shouldn’t be allocating public space for their financial benefit,” Cllr McSweeney insisted.
Social Democrats councillor Elisa O’Donovan was of the view that it would be a shame to remove build-outs in the city centre.
“I think they could be used to really green the city,” she suggested.
“We’ve a lot of people living in the city so they could be used as a neighbourhood meeting spot. I think there is worth to them and they could really help lift the city centre.”
Labour Party councillor Joe Leddin agreed that when build-outs are not maintained, they can become unsightly and weather beaten. However, he was not in favour of removing them.
“They create their own issues with rubbish getting caught underneath them, but if we can come to some collaborative effort with the relevant businesses in terms of maintaining them, they do serve a purpose,” he said.
