OPINION: The car is a necessity, not a luxury

The Draft Westport Local Area Plan is on display until Tuesday, November 7, in Westport Civic Offices, Westport Library and Áras an Chontae, Castlebar. Submissions may be made up to that date by post or via the website. Email submissions will not be accepted.

This is all coming on top of the Westport Local Transport Plan which will: “Co-ordinate transport and land use planning, reduce the demand for travel and the reliance on the private car in favour of public transport, walking and cycling.”

The car is out and the bicycle is back! Yet, the Local Area Plan states that in Westport people rely on the car to get around: 61 percent drive to work, 1 percent use a bus, 0 percent use a train; 49 percent reach schools by car. This has more to do with a lack of public transport and unsafe approach roads to the town.

Westport transport and development is dependent on a southern relief road connected to the West Road, a topical council chamber issue for over 60 years. The new N5 is on the north of the town.

The Local Area Plan strangely notes: ‘continue development of southern bypass’. Where? There is no development! There is no plan! Without a proper southern relief road plan Westport transport and development will be big on aspirations but low on reality. It’s the elephant in the room.

Both plans have some good proposals but they are lost amidst the overall reach and objectives. Sure, we need more pedestrian crossings, temporary school carparks, improved bus service, a multi-storey carpark and the like, but to continually state that we need to reduce cars and car-parking spaces ignores a major factor of everyday life in Westport – that of supporting businesses.

Westport is a business town. If access to the town is curtailed in any way then businesses will suffer. Businesses can least afford this at present as they navigate their way through the recent Government-backed rates-revaluation disaster. One Westport publican’s rates increased by over 600 percent!

In reality, because of the narrowness of the streets, the introduction of cycleways would result in catastrophic traffic congestion, causing significant harm to the town’s commercial life. According to a Westport Business Association submission: “The very considerable negative impact would not be balanced in any meaningful way by benefits. The impulse to introduce cycleways is misguided: what deters people from cycling into/through town is not the absence of cycleways on the streets but the absence of those on the approach roads.”

Of course reading through these reports one would think that most people live within easy access of the town and cycling is second nature to them. On cycling, strange how there was no mention of the safety aspect in the wake of the council-supported Lime bike scheme that does not offer cycle helmets to patrons. The bicycle helmet will have to become another accessory one has to carry with them, alongside their phone!

The Local Links transport scheme has offered some support to rural areas, yet accessibility is still a huge rural issue, making the car a necessity, not a luxury. The Local Area Plan argues that footfall could be increased by replacing car-parking spaces with cycle spaces, because bikes take up less space. One businessman pointed out: “It suggests that cyclists do not currently use the town because of a lack of cycle spaces; this is nonsense, as there are more than enough bike racks and informal cycle parking locations. Also, it assumes that ten cyclists would replace every 1.2 car users – but where are these extra cyclists coming from?”

Bridge Street was pedestrianised in 2003. A repeat would decimate business and cause traffic chaos. This plan cannot be based on or depend upon the anticipation of a southern relief road that doesn’t exist. There aren’t even plans for such a road. Westport cannot be sacrificed on the altar of desktop theories and wishful thinking.

When will those in power realise that the people of Westport, residents and businesspeople, are the lifeblood of the town, not statutory bodies, be they councils, quangos or government departments?

People need to be aware of these reports (mayo.ie/planning/local-area-plan), and have their say before the closing date for submissions next Tuesday.