'There needs to be some level of control on this' - vape shops increasing in Leitrim towns
Cllr Enda McGloin said he would like to see the Towns Teams and the local authority come together in order to formulate a plan to buck this trend.
There are too many vaping shops and phone shops Leitrim towns and not enough retailers such as hardware and drapery stores, a Leitrim councillor has said this week.
Speaking on Oceanfm.ie, Cllr Enda McGloin said he would like to see the Towns Teams and the local authority come together in order to formulate a plan to buck this trend.
He said: "We've seen potentially an increase in particular types of shops such as charity shops, phone shops as well as a number of vape shops and there is a general concern out there that town centres are suffering because of that in terms of footfall and other businesses are beginning to close."
He went on to say that he wanted the local authority to "reflect on the situation" and that there needs to be an incentive in place to encourage "certain types of businesses to be identified as required or needed in a town and that could be incentivised through a temporary reduction in rates. A small hardware store, a drapery store, an artisan food type of operation - these are the types of things that might bring people into a town."
He said that Town Teams, alongside the local authority, could "identify what's required" before adding "a lot of shopping is done online and people buy clothes through various Chinese websites and you have all the various delivery vans such as DPD etc. in and out of towns dropping off stuff especially among very young people. Those online businesses are not paying rates whereas the towns in town centres are."
He stressed: "I think we have to encourage people go set up a particular kind of business and maybe give them a rates break for up to two or three years to get them established."
He concluded: "I can't see how, in some cases, three or four shops are selling vapes in the same town. There needs to be some level of control on this."