Parking group slams survey on Tipperary derelict site's future as biased towards tourism uses

A parking action group has criticised a Tipperary County Council commissioned public consultation survey seeking Carrick-on-Suir people’s views on how the town’s derelict former Goldcrop site should be redeveloped, claiming it was systemically biased in favour of tourism type projects.

The criticism has been levelled by the Main Street Business Initiative which says it has “serious concerns” regarding the design and interpretation of the Carrick Riverside Regeneration Project public consultation survey that received 2,062 responses.

MBI has accused the council of “concealing key survey findings” and has called for the immediate publication of the full results of the survey, which the council commissioned last summer to assist it with devising a masterplan for the 2.7 acres North Quay site close to Dillon Bridge and Main Street.

The group that is primarily campaigning to save 27 parking spaces due to be axed on Main Street as part of the Carrick Regeneration Scheme, has issued its criticism in the wake of the release of the preliminary results of the survey just before Christmas.

The MBI that represents a mix of traders, property owners and residents on Main Street and some adjoining streets, contributed to the public consultation process by submitting a detailed six- page proposal for the development of a 200-250 space car park on the former Goldcrop site to cater for the town’s parking needs.

The MBI contended the public consultation survey’s introduction and several questions were framed in such a way that a tourism oriented development was the “preferred or inevitable outcome”.

“Key practical alternatives, in particular the provision of adequate car parking, coach/bus parking and transport related infastructure, were not offered as tick box options in the questions.

“Instead respondents were required to use “Other (please specify) to raise these issues.” Bobby Fitzgerald of the MBI argued this created a systemic bias with tourism and leisure development prominently and repeatedly presented while essential day-to-day needs of the town centre such as parking, traffic and access were relegated to free text comments that are harder to quantify and easier to minimise in any final report.

Mr Fitzgerald pointed to the omission of parking/bus parking as answer options for Question 5 of the survey, which asked:

What would you think is most needed in Carrick-on-Suir?

The options given to tick were: Housing, Public Transport, Green Recreational Spaces, Retail Services, Road and Traffic Improvements, Employment Opportunities and Other (please specify).

He said parking was also omitted as a specific answer option for Question 7: What Type of Development would you like to see (on the former Goldcrop site)?

The answer options were: Residential, Tourism based activity, Commercial/Retail, Community Facilities, Healthcare Facilities, Green Spaces/Parks, Mixed-Use Development, Public Plaza, Leisure Activity (watersports), Other.  Mr Fitzgerald noted several of the options were tourism linked land uses.

He also asked why the preliminary results didn’t include results for Question 4 which asked respondents: How would you rate the current tourism experience in Carrick-on-Suir?

Despite what he described as the “systemic bias” of the survey, Mr Fitzgerald pointed to the fact that parking was mentioned over 700 times in open responses to Question 5 and included variations such as ‘tour bus parking’, ‘town parking’ and ‘car park’.

“This indicates there are major public concerns that were not properly reflected in the survey design.

“In our view the overall pattern including promotional language around “vibrancy” and “regeneration” multiple tourism linked options, and the absence of a straightforward parking/transport infrastructure” choice constitutes a significant bias in favour of a pre-determined, tourism focused outcome.

“We urge the Council to treat the survey results with caution, recognising these design limitations, explicitly acknowledge the strength of concern regarding parking and access and undertake any further consultation on a genuinely neutral basis with transport and parking options placed on an equal footing with all over land use possibilities.”

Mr Fitzgerald argued the Carrick Regeneration Scheme plan to remove a large portion of Main Street parking under the Carrick Regeneration Scheme cannot be reconciled with what local people identified in the survey as essential in the hundreds of references to car parking, town parking and space for tour buses given in their responses to questions.

THE COUNCIL RESPONDS TO THE MAIN STREET BUSINESS INITIATIVE

Tipperary County Council said the Riverside Regeneration Project is co-funded by the Irish Government and EU Just Transition Fund and its goal is to identify the most appropriate use of the former Goldcrop site with particular focus on tourism, community, recreation, retail and employment.

The authority explained that to achieve its objective, consultants were appointed to review previous public consultations, flooding, environmental and traffic constraints, statutory and planning guidelines and other relevant issues.

“They were also asked to carry out an updated public consultation.

“This would allow them to prepare a draft concept design for this strategic site, taking all factors into account.

“The survey results in themselves do not stand alone to progress the project, rather are taken in the context of this important town centre site.

“Any proposed development would take into account all infrastructure requirements, including required flood alleviation measures, traffic considerations, parking, tour bus parking, water, etc.

“All issues are expected to be covered in detail in the final report presented by the consultants.

The council said it responded to a number of Freedom of Information queries about the public consultation survey by providing the information currently held on file. 

It said this information formed part of a press release issued in December outlining the preliminary survey results as presented by the consultants on this project. 

The council added that the consultants are collating the results of the online survey with the hard copy surveys and separate written submissions in order to give a fully detailed report, which will be presented to the elected members (of Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District) prior to circulation to the general public.

THE SURVEY'S PRELIMINARY RESULTS

Tipperary County Council said early findings from the 2,062 responses to the survey found 67% of respondents expressed strong support for development initiatives at the former Goldcrop site.

A further 23% expressed support and only 5% opposed development initiatives.

More than half of respondents (55%) cited Employment Opportunities in response to the question: What is most needed in Carrick-on-Suir?

Road & Traffic Improvements were chosen by 34%, Retail & Services were cited by 36%, Housing by 38%, Green/Recreational spaces by 18% and Public Transport by 16%.

Parking was mentioned over 700 times in the open responses to this question, including variations such as tour bus parking, town parking and car park.

When asked about preferred development for the site, 54% opted for Green Spaces/Parks and 25% picked Commercial/Retail. Tourism Based Activity was favoured by 23%, Mixed Use Development by 22%, Leisure Activity by 22%, Residential by 21% and Public Plaza by 17%. Sustainability was rated as “very important” by 53% of respondents and there was strong support for “eco-conscious architecture”.

While 63% of respondents raised no major concerns about the site’s development, 18% were concerned about disruption during construction, 13% were concerned about increased traffic and 8% were concerned about the environmental impact.