This article is from page 17 of the 2007-09-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG
ENNIS Chamber said that feedback from businesses in the town to Satur- day’s car-free day have been “largely positive”’.
The chamber conducted a foot- fall survey on Saturday and will be conducting another one in the near future to see whether the absence
of cars encouraged or discouraged people from coming into town to go SyaTo)ayoyberee
While the results of that survey are still to come in, Rita McInerney, Chamber CEO, said they had also conducted their own survey among members and, with one-fifth of busi- ness having responded already, the feeling is a positive one.
“Not all of the replies are in yet but most were positive and _ busi- nesses also felt that the good weather helped.
‘There were some reports of busi- ness slackening off somewhat in the afternoon.”
McInerney said that the chamber is “looking forward” to being involved in discussions on how pedestrianisa-
tion should work going forward.
With another car-free day being planned for Fashion Week in October and the possibility of car-free days for Christmas shopping, McInerney said that it was felt that Saturday was a good day of the week to try out the concept.
Future days would benefit, chamber members felt, from more advance
publicity and perhaps maps in the local media and notices to illustrate possible traffic movements.
“A map is worth a thousand words and a lot of people didn’t realise that some restrictions on traffic move- ments were lifted on Saturday to allow traffic to flow. Those are the kind of things people need to know for these events.”