What if your Local Property Tax was to go up?

“Well boi”, it’s that time of year once again!

Behind the closed, locked doors of City Hall and Dungarvan Civic Offices, our 32 Councillors will be, should be, fiddling with their calculators. (This is not a euphemism!) They’re deciding the Waterford City and County budget for 2018. But just what might this mean for you, the reader?

The actual process of passing and approving a “Balanced budget” is rather strange. As there is so much of the Executives’ budget that is quite literally “Untouchable”. In fact our Councillors can only change, alter or influence a rather small percentage of a much larger circa €130,000,000 budget. With the Lansdowne-Haddington-kick-the-can-down-the-Road agreements coming on stream, we could see pressure being heaped on our Council to contribute more to budgetary areas. Expected pay and pension increases that may not actually be covered by additional, supplementary central exchequer grants/funds. This of course means you and I have to pay for this.

You might recall, that our local news and media, covered many column inches, giving lots of radio snippets, about just how there could be absolutely NO Local Property Tax (LPT) or Commercial Rates increases for 2017. The Councillors agreed that the timing was NOT right!

What has changed in our economic outlook that makes increase charges to LPT and Commercial Rates, a very realistic possibility for 2018?

Look at highly regarded reports, such as the WIT “South East Economic Monitor” and more recently the Council’s very own, Indecon “Economic Cost Benefit Appraisal of the Waterford City Urban Renewal Scheme”. The Indecon document is the actual report, commissioned by the Council, submitted to Government for circa €61,000,000 of exchequer funding. Income that would make possible the alteration to infrastructural groundwork. Which in turn, would allow Saudi Arabia’s Fawaz Alhokair Group, to build on our Strategic Development Zone, on the North Quays.

Both of these reports detail and outline, in no uncertain terms, Waterford City/County and the wider South East region have some way to go, to catch up on the rest of the country’s “Green shoots of recovery”. In fact the gulf, excuse the pun, between some of the economic indicators is, in truth, quite jaw dropping. Disposable income, percentage of the population at risk of poverty, labour force participation rates, unemployment rates, third level attainment....and more besides, make for some incredibly grim reading.

But then we all know that the South East has been neglected by successive Governments for year, after year, after year.

The statistics produced, make an exceptionally compelling and concrete case for Government support for the Alhokair Group’s plans for the North Quays. I do hope that this money is forthcoming from this current Government. Kick starting a REAL recovery in Waterford and the wider South East region. One would also hope that any infrastructural funding would find its way to Waterford. Much, much faster than our rented, National Health Service mobile catheterisation laboratory did! (It has arrived! But then again you would know this, due to the “Trumpeting”, by a few on social media).

Oh and we must remember that with a local council election scheduled for 2019, next year is realistically, the only opportunity that our 32 brave men and women have, to impose punitive increases. Increases on both our LPT and that other easily reached cash cow, Commercial Rates. After all who would want to be imposing unpopular increases, when disproportionate door knocking is already pencilled into the diary?

Any increase, no matter how small, will affect our particularly local economy. Businesses and households are already extraordinarily tight for money, facing continued huge increases in car insurance, rising back to school costs, a spiralling cost of living, fuel expenses for both car and home inflating. Business overheads are also rising disproportionately, thus not reflecting where Waterford’s economy presently sits. The previously mentioned reports, back up just how tight we ALL are for money and disposable income is as rare as hen’s teeth.

What are we to do if increases are imposed by our elected 32 for 2018? Simply ask them directly;

“Why should I be paying more?” Above all, it’s imperative you take an interest in what your Councillors are doing for you and Waterford.

Our Showcase Weekend!

It has to be one of the most eagerly anticipated weekends of the year. The annual “Spraoi Bank Holiday in August”, as we all now call it.

The 2017 three-day event was even more special this year, as we were celebrating the 25^th Birthday, of this festival of street music and entertainment. An event that, in all honesty has probably grown to such an extent, that those originators who came up with the idea, are pinching themselves very hard.

Who could have imagined that from such a small acorn, a whole forest would grow?

Spraoi 25, has brought to Waterford City, brand new international acts and a plethora of exciting, innovative and extraordinary home-grown talent. Year on year we see this festival “Reinvent” the concept of street entertainment. This production seems as fresh as ever. It is an amazing formula, has not become stale under any circumstance. You certainly don’t hear people saying this is just the “Same old, same old!”

This was my 16^th Spraoi, since relocating to Waterford City from Scotland. Having come from an events background, covering venues such as Wembley Stadium and Arena, also The Business Design Centre, I know just how challenging and difficult it is to keep an event relevant.

Hats off to the team, some would say army, of staff and volunteers who keep this Waterford treasure rolling along. Not only do they deliver annually, on the first weekend in August, but they are now even packing attendances in, at other festival in far flung corners of Europe. Maybe one year Edinburgh City will open its eyes and invite our SPRAOI to attend the Fringe? Now that would be worth visiting “Auld Reekie” for!

Despite a wee bit of warm rain on Sunday, the weather was excellent for wandering around this oldest of Ireland’s cities. It was great to see that so many of our visitors were exploring Waterford’s wee narrow streets, for the first time. They would turn a corner and there in front of them would be another performance area. We really are blessed with wondrous ancient architecture, Spraoi blending in so well, with its almost chaotic choreographed stage shows.

To many, the weekend is of course bookended by the parade and fireworks display. It would appear that Uncle Tom Cobley and his extended family were in attendance. There is something truly mesmerising about late night fireworks. The myriad of psychedelic colours, ear splitting loud bangs, pops, whizzes and whooshes, exhilarate our very essence. We all love a grand finale to a festival and Spraoi has this down to a fine art.

Of course the whole event needs sponsors and our support, the donating public. As with “ALL things Arty”, there is a huge squeeze on funding for such projects and festivals. The annual struggle, to get just enough to cover costs will always be a difficult uphill task! Funding is forthcoming from various tax payers’ resources, but alas, more and more is being channelled, yes you’ve guessed correctly, away from Waterford!

Once again we are, proportionately, at the very bottom of the Giving Tree, when it comes to supporting our Waterford arts. Local Authorities are being squeezed year on year. Have no doubt that Government pressure will force constraints, come the annual budgetary months of November and December. Those Councils, who wish to continue funding The Arts at the same levels, will be “Encouraged” to find these costs from direct increases in local commercial rates and the local property tax. The jungles drums are already tapping out a beat!

Government is at pains to tell us that “The Arts” are high on their agenda and at every local level they apparently matter a great deal. Yet, the opposite is true when fiscal policy dictates that they be adequately funded. The funding pinch will happen in 2018, as the current Government try to “Buy” our votes for the next general election, looming on the horizon.

Waterford City and County manages to incorporate many, many festivals into the calendar year. In fact we are just as busy as other cities, including Galway.

Spraoi works, because we all feel we’re part of the festival. We feel like we “OWN” a part of “OUR” festival, roll on the next 25 years.

Time to support our own!

One Swallow doesn’t make a summer! It is not one good quality that makes a man!

These are certainly two sayings that could well be used to paraphrase the Festive shopping period in Waterford City. Some, quite wrongly assumed, that as there appeared to have been large numbers of people visiting Waterford in December, taking in the wonders of Winterval, exploring the architecture of Ireland’s oldest city, visiting our retailers, that businesses have, figuratively speaking, made a “killing!”

This of course could not be further from the truth.

Many businesses have done well over the festive period, with the hotels, restaurants and entertainment establishments being particularly buoyant. There can be no doubt, that general retail had at best flat sales when compared to 2016 and some sales were even slightly down on last year. Many will ask just how this could be, when guesstimated numbers for Winterval could be in excess of half a million, going on the 2015 figures (we are still awaiting the official bean counter announcement)!

All the data released so far, will back up the fact that Christmas sales were, for many retailers, very disappointing. As these could account for up to 30% of a businesses’ annual turnover, the real cost of a poor Christmas, in terms of sales, hits home during the months of January, February and early March.

There are many contributing factors to these poor sales and there can be no doubt that countless shoppers, are simply holding on to more of their hard earned cash due to continued uncertainty in the economy. In addition, Waterford and across the wider southeast, we continue to be a low wage economy with higher unemployment, when compared to national averages. This in turn means that we have less disposable income to spend in our local shops. After all, if you only have €50 of disposable income in Waterford, compared to €150 in another city, then who will have a stronger, better economy – it really is that simple. WE have far less to go around.

 

For years we have suffered, as regional strategy, after regional strategy, has left Waterford City and the southeast’s economy trying to play catch-up.  We have been running the 100m, against the likes of Mr Bolt. But we have been wearing wellies that are two sizes too big, filled with custard and our lane has been coated in treacle! It is proving impossible to get on even terms, let alone be in with a chance of winning the race.

To throw even more fuel on the fire, we have very low third level attainment and we are the only region not to have a University. This in turn means that we have limited higher education capacity for our children. The lack of IDA visits is a constant thorn in our side and for the period 2011-2015 the southeast accounted for only 4% of new IDA jobs created. There are many other metrics that clearly show we have much to do to get back on an even keel. But then you the readers already know this! Don’t you?

But here is the crux of the issue. Getting people to talk openly and honestly about where our economy is, proves very, very difficult, time and time again. There are very few people willing to speak up, because they somehow fear that speaking the truth, will sound negative! Yet, our very own excellent academics, in WIT, have been saying the above for many years. So why can’t we be more honest and say it like it is?

If our businesses do not start speaking loudly enough to be heard, then many of those in power (locally and nationally) will, wrongly assume, that Waterford’s economy is “booming”. Come the Council budget next year, scores of our Councillors will vote for commercial rates increases. Maybe increased car parking charges, increased property taxes and who knows what else.

We need to stop being the “Quiet people of Waterford” and start to shout just a wee bit louder. In the meantime get out and support your local businesses – because once they are gone they are gone!

Time to find out who has the “Biggest Cojones!”

At the time of writing this wee column, Monday 5^th December, our Councillors had rejected the CEO’s proposed 2017 budget for Waterford Council. A budget which was presented to our 32 Councillors, at a plenary session, on Tuesday 29^th November. The basis of this overwhelming rejection, was due to the proposed Commercial Rates increase, to fill the now perennial black hole in the budget of around €1.3 million.

The meeting last week was watched by a “Packed” public gallery and press core. In reality, there were 5 members of the public in attendance. Only two stayed the course, for the three hour marathon meeting. In the end the members of the local press outnumbered the public by one!

Not really a great turnout for such an important meeting and the most essential function of our 32 Councillors.

The Pact, made up of our Fianna Fail, Fianna Gael and Labour Councillors, to a man and one woman, rejected unequivocally, the proposed budget. Based on the fact, that it was not the right time to be seen to be increasing Commercial Rates across Waterford City and County.

We even had Councillors Cummins (FG) and Quinlan (FF), who were both across the start line before any gun was fired! Reaffirming their position on the local airwaves, immediately after the budget meeting. Stating the position of their respective parties that a budget cannot be passed if it contains any Commercial Rates increases for 2017.

Now, I have no doubt that in the last seven days since the budget meeting, there has been an awful lot of shuttle diplomacy, Council Executive pressure cooker meetings with various Councillors, threats, counter threats and probably even the odd personal text message. Each side has been jockeying for position to try to see how a balanced budget can be passed.

The Pact laid down a very sizeable marker last week, when they rejected the CEO’s budget proposal. This was history in the making and a first for Waterford. Whilst, they did not show their hand there and then, or come up with an alternative budget, they did ask for two adjournments and another seven days of grace, in order to align their ducks. Seeking alternatives for the proposed budgetary increases in insurance, payroll and Irish Waterford fallout, to name but a few.

Now, the question must be, “Do the Pact have the Big Cajones to stick to their promise of a no rates increase?”

Seven days is a long time in politics and pressure influences people in many different ways. Many see pressure as a challenge and some just simply fold under it. With previous battle hardened cries simply turning into whispered whimpers, by those who don’t have big enough testes, to follow through with their promises.

So, if your are reading today’s newspaper and the headline news is a Commercial Rates increase for 2017, then we have Councillors who are frightened and are scared to carry out their one of their primary functions. Their spin after last week’s initial budget meeting was all for nothing and the dirty face of local politics has once again blighted Waterford’s progression.

However, ‘tis the season to be jolly and I for one, as a Scottish rugby fan and therefore an eternal optimist, hope that the Pact stand by their promise, to deliver an alternative budget with NO Commercial rates increase for 2017.

Waterford has yet to see significant green shoots and we need to get the message out that we are open for business. What we don’t need is yet another political charade. Bear in mind our competitors are slowly but surely sneaking ahead of us on many fronts. A wee trip to Wexford for example and you will see a significant amount of building, construction, cheaper car parking, heavy footfall....all done on the Q.T. They are not the only ones forging ahead of Waterford!

In many ways, having now aged several years, by being in attendance at last week’s landmark budget meeting, my appetite has only been whetted, as I await to see which of our Pact members delivers on their promise.

Your budget is just around the corner!

Waterford Council is currently preparing the 2017 budget. Last week we saw the first shots being fired in this annual battle of the abacuses. Our Councillors, quite rightly, opposed and ultimately rejected an Executive proposal that would have increased your household charge, roof tax or Council tax by 7.5%.

This planned increase was to fill an indicated, circa €1,300,000, deficit hole in the 2017 budget. Interestingly, a similar figure also needed to be found, for a fissure that appeared in the 2016 budget – due, we were told, to the recalculation of rateable income from mobile phone masts and Irish Water infrastructure (I think!). With the direct result that an empty premises, commercial rates charge, of circa 20%, of the rateable value being introduced and levied on all empty premises in the City and County.

To be asking struggling households to stretch already broken family budgets and pay further housing tax would take even more money out of our very fragile local economy. The decision of our Councillors to reject this proposal will of course mean that the indicated shortage of €1,300,000 will have to be found elsewhere.

The normal “cash cow” for such a shortfall is of course commercial or business rates. Unfortunately, there are only so many times that you can milk a cow and as we are on the third tier of Ireland’s recovery table, any money coming out of our delicate recovery is a worry.

To put it simply, there are businesses in and around John Robert’s Square paying circa €40,000 in commercial rates. Assuming that they are working on a generous margin of 10% then these businesses will have to generate €400,000 in sales just to pay the rates bill alone. Now add on salaries, electricity, water rates, employers’ liabilities, insurance etc and you will see that in no time at all, a business could quite easily have to turnover in excess of €1,000,000 just to open its doors to a paying customer – that is how hard it is to do business!

Taking any additional money out of our delicate local economy, will have a detrimental effect on employment. Unfortunately, everything is linked economically through very precarious bonds and any attempt to stretch those bonds, which are already at breaking point, will have catastrophic consequences. 

Whilst we can see very small shoots of recovery, we need to keep the momentum going in the right direction and taking money out of our local economy is not the way to go. We need to be promoting spending, supporting business investment and most importantly encouraging people back into the very heart of our City, to shop locally.

There are a whole host of holistic measures needed to make this happen.

For instance, we need to start bringing people back into the City Centre on Friday evenings. One way is by getting rid of ridiculous car parking charges that continue way past 6pm. How can “early-bird” offers work if you are paying €3 or €4 in car parking charges? Businesses CANNOT stay open on a Friday evening if the footfall is not there! As it is TOO expensive to open for 2 or 3 hours when you are paying such high rates, wages, utilities etc etc. If you are only turning over a few Euros in sales, there is no point in being open and no business cannot continue to sustain mounting losses.

Someone somewhere needs to make these brave decisions and tackle why we cannot attract footfall into the City Centre.

Our Councillors rejected a proposed increase in household tax. Now, despite an apparent black hole in the finances, they need to push the Executive to be creative with car parking charges and, perhaps, insist on a pilot scheme to get rid of Friday night charges altogether. Try this and see if footfall increases. Try this and see if the City Centre can in fact attract people from other free car parking areas around the City Centre. A simple solution to a rather large elephant in the room!

Alas, I fear that the fear of change will result in maintaining the status quo.

Do our Festivals matter?

Festivals & mud go hand in hand!

Yes they do!

As a City and County that prides itself on a huge number of diverse annual festivals and events, some of which have actually reached International status, we should be very proud of the fact that we can state that Waterford is one of the busiest festival regions in the country.

Yet we are still, in the perception of many, lagging way behind the likes of Galway, Dublin and Cork, and when you look at what is on offer I often wonder why we are perceived to be somehow a lesser festival product than these other Cities.

Maybe they just shout much louder than us!

At last week’s plenary meeting of Waterford Council, in addition to clarification on the newly introduced Commercial Rates levy on empty premises, which along with the general commercial rates revenues, circa €33,000,000, which help fund our many festivals and events, the issue of festival funding was discussed and debated quite robustly by a number of our Councillors.

It was refreshing to see such vigorous debating, with a number of valid and poignant reasons why the proposed contributions by Council to festivals and events had to be right for the City and County.

Waterford Walls.

With circa €1,430,000 of disposable spend available to the 58 identified festivals and events the Council must get the support grant structure accurate, fair and true, to nurture the very best of these, whilst allowing a significant financial contingency to support new fledgling festivals and events, that will ultimately replace those that have come to the end of their natural lifespan.

We do need a constant conveyor belt of new festivals and events and that is why any grant or support funding available must be distributed as equitably as possible and disseminated by knowledgeable qualified people who know, or at the very least have familiarity with, what will and will not work for Waterford.

The initial draft Council document has suggested that future funding would be evaluated by a nominated three person panel. Quite rightly our Councillors literally jumped all over this suggestion by stating that these decisions should be made by Waterford’s Councillors, as they are elected to represent the people and the businesses of Waterford. An external panel, no matter what their experience, will not be as focused and or as in touch with Waterford’s event needs.

For the first time in a long time it was refreshing to hear our Councillors speaking with one voice on this matter and demanding that the Executive bring the issue of allocating grant funding back to the Councillors for their direct input and ultimately authorisation.

It would be absolutely criminal to think that a festival or event could thrive or fail on the recommendation of a three person panel who may not know the history or relevance of a particular festival or event.

The support funding available to festivals and events is a vital building block to allow growth, regionalisation and ultimately, where relevant, nationalisation through the generation of extra bed nights to the City and County.

From small acorns large trees can grow, but only if the soil conditions are right and the tree is maintained and looked after.

Up, up & away!

We can see the huge and well deserved success that Spraoi is now having, despite loss of some national funding, and the acorn planted many, many years ago has now seen this organisation support its first ever UK festival, in sunny Scarborough.

The variety in our festivals and events is a joy to behold and whilst some get huge grant income, up to circa €430,000 that some might feel could be better spent, others clearly get smaller contributions that perhaps fit the profile of a fledgling festival looking to establish roots and grow.

The split between City and County is always an interesting debate but we all know that a great festival or event for City or County is good for everyone concerned.

After all are we not one of the same?

Our jobs and retail conundrum.

"Scoop" - a very good digger.

I like to think that I am a good “digger”, not may I add in the garden, as most things I plant unfortunately die. The green fingers in the Garland Clan definitely belong to the fairer sex – I could not even grow my GIY garlic!

What I mean is that when I wish to write about a particular topic I do my very best to dig out some research or at the very least I look for some statistical information that will help get my writing juices flowing. This in turn allows me the time to bash away on my keyboard, time and time again, so that I now really enjoy expressing my views and opinions though the medium of print.

I regularly use a number of reference sites, on the old Interweb, and the Central Statistic Office (CSO) site was used to last week garner some interesting statistics about the regional variations in a measure called Gross Added Value (GAV). This measures “the difference between production value and intermediate consumption and represents the value added by the firm.” This is a great site for statistics but I do feel that it is overly complicated to use and maybe this is deliberate so as to dissuade people from engaging.

This GAV figure is measured in Euro and the state’s average for 2012 (the last statistical data point) is €34,308, Dublin measured €51,839 and the South East came in at €23,588. Quite a significant variation then across the country, as you would expect. The South East’s high for GAV was back in 2007 when the figure was at €29,884, but this was still significantly below the state average for that year of €39,522.

This GAV figures reflects the low wages economies across the South East which should, in theory, make the SE a more competitive inward investment option.

However, a multi-national will not invest into a region based on low wages alone, it may need a specific skill set or a multi-faceted spread of skills that will ultimately help generate profit to offset what would be a multimillion Euro investment. The stakes are very high!

The low GAV also backs up the statistics that show, right across the SE, there is significantly lower disposable income for our very localised economy. After all if you have only €50 to spend at the end of the week you will spend €50 and if you have €300 the difference this makes is to our economy is considerable. This much lower disposable income directly influences the retailing opportunities in our City Centre and across the whole SE region.

Our current conundrum is this.

To get a better retail mix and a better retail branding in the City we need to see more money being spent in our local economy. But we cannot increase this spend until such times as we attract better higher paid jobs. But attracting those better higher paid jobs will affect our GAV and possibly makes us even more unattractive to future investment.

It actually is a very difficult set of balls to be juggling.

But the balls have been juggled now for many, many years and yet we appear to be no further forward in actually making Waterford and the SE an important place for increased FDI and other indigenous investment streams.

We can only improve the Status Quo by radically looking at just how attractive we are for investment, because the route we have currently chosen is clearly not working. The City, County and Region need to look for far-reaching solutions that will make the SE THE most attractive place to invest.

 

We need to be better than every other region full stop!

Perhaps one quick immediate solution is to stop looking at commercial rates as a simple cash cow and start actually incentivising investment through a lower rate structure and essentially reducing the cost of being in business in Waterford.

If we do this the future statistics will show that in 2016 was in fact a benchmark year, a year when we put Waterford back on the investment map. New foundations are needed so let us start building them now.

Waterford cannot just be for Christmas!

As we head inextricably towards Christmas Day it was great to see the City Centre so busy last weekend, despite the best efforts of storm Desmond. It has been quite clear for some time now that our traditional Waterford shopping days are now Thursday, Friday and Saturday and of course Sunday, probably being the busiest shopping day due to the unlimited FREE car parking we can all avail of.

It is great to see these increased footfall numbers that our City Centre retailers so badly need and of course the Winterval Festival and the Waterford Business Group’s “Shop Local Sunday”, the 13^th December, and the Winter Wonderbands competition, Sunday 13^th December, will all help to keep those footfall numbers UP!

What about after this Festive period?

Teresa Mannion taking on storm Desmond!

The fact is that Waterford businesses need to have continuous support to help keep these SME’s in business. To put it bluntly there has to be money coming across the counter in order for businesses to employ staff, pay commercial rates, pay insurance premiums, pay utility bills, pay vat, pay revenue etc. The cost of being in business is very high and enormously challenging and many of the businesses we love and support are in fact operating at tiny margins, some as low as 5%.

These tiny margins make it extraordinarily challenging to absorb any increased business costs and therefore the only way for many of these businesses to survive and grow is to see a reduction in business costs coupled with significant increases in footfall numbers across the City and County.

However, this message I fear is being loss on so many of those that represent us.

My journalistic colleagues and I do not for one moment class myself as one of our City’s journalist (truth is I just always wanted an excuse to say that phrase), have indicated to me that at the Councils recent “behind closed doors budget meetings” a cohort of Councillors had advocated an INCREASE in commercial rates and an INCREASE in City Centre car parking charges. Perhaps proof that these sources were correct was the fact that there was also a proposal to implement car parking charges in Dunmore East, which was subsequently defeated.

In the end what we ended up with, after I hope was some robust lobbying, was no rates and no car parking increases but a 20% commercial rates charge on empty shops and empty premises for 2016 and beyond.

The fact that such increases were even considered shows just how out of touch some of our Councillors are with the realities of being in business in the City and County. Perhaps these Councillors should identify themselves and explain to us their justification as to why they considered those aforementioned increases appropriate to the many businesses across the City and County.

I fear now that the new “empty building” commercial rates charge may in fact create a big hairy retail monster for the City Centre. If distressed property owners are in reality being forced to rent out their properties, you have to ask yourself just what type of retailer will fill such premises at what can only be very low rental prices.

Far from offering a carrot to getting premises let are we not in danger of filling our City and County with the very retailers that will drive footfall elsewhere, where there is better choice and a better retail mix?

To generate much needed increased footfall and the higher spend that will eventually attract new retailers to the City Centre, the very retailers that my daughter keeps harping on about, we need to create a holistic approach that gives out far more carrots and does less beating with a stick.

We are not there just yet and in order to get there we need more direct lobbying by the very people who understand the dynamics of being in business in Waterford.

Time to speak the truth even if your voice shakes.

Done and dusted.

As Winterval comes to the end of its first week we can look forward to a busy Christmas and hopefully the many businesses in and around the City Centre will see a much needed boost in sales that will carry them through into 2016. In 2016 all we can hope for as a Christmas present is a much bigger slice of the recovery cake and that all the headline promises we have read and heard about in our local media will be delivered by those making the promises.

Remember, it is very dangerous to over promise!

Waterford’s Four are now in election mode and are willing to promise delivery on projects that in truth should have been delivered months and years ago. No doubt over the next few weeks and months we will be endlessly bombarded with just how lucky we have been in terms of investment. So we really must ask ourselves if what has come our way is good enough or can be accepted as the absolute minimum that was needed to be delivered over the lifetime of the last Government. I would advocate that Government has under delivered for Waterford.

The simple fact is that more should have come Waterford’s way over the last number of years and we must all understand that any investment, that has managed to travel down the M9 from Dublin, has not been nearly enough and, yes, we may well sit at the top table but we are still feeding off the crumbs thrown to us and we have still not been invited to choose from the menu.

At the last Waterford Council plenary meeting, held in Dungarvan, the Council passed the Waterford City Centre Urban Renewal Scheme. A Scheme that will see circa €4,000,000 come from Government and circa €4,000,000 come from Waterford Council. Why ALL the money for the Scheme cannot come from Government I do not know!

The final meaty document contains all the plans, altered plans and reference to the 76 submissions from organisations, groups, individuals, businesses and Councillors – well 4 Councillors to be very precise.

Councillors Mulligan, Kelly, O’Neill and Daniels appear to be the only four Councillors out of our 32 good men and women of the Council, who seem to have been bothered to lodge a written submission. I will hazard a guess that many more will claim a significant input, behind closed doors, in committee, to this development document – but it would have been fitting for us, members of the public, to be able to actually read and dissect our Councillors input and observations, so that we can judge for ourselves the level of that input.

The final document is now done and dusted and all indications are that the work will start early in 2016 with the promise that no work on reducing car parking spaces will commence until the gas works car park is delivered – first muted for completion some 4 or 5 years ago!

During last week’s Metropolitan Council meeting we heard that the demolition for the North Quay was also done and dusted (again) and the work would start in the New Year. However, not many people will realise that we are to be left with piles of “concrete road foundation stones” of around 5cm square.

Swindon's Magic Roundabout

This substrate will be left on the North Quay until such times as it can be used.

The debacle that was the broadcast centre roundabout is now done and dusted. People power made all the difference and I have no doubt that this engineering master class has seen the Council receive the most amounts of complaints since records began.

It just goes to show that when we all work together mountains can be moved. Unfortunately, social media was almost instantaneously awash with Councillors claiming individual credit for what really should have been acknowledged as a remarkable team effort to turn around an experiment that a five year old Lego user could see would not work.

It is Budget time once again!

The 2015/2016 national budget is now behind us and we are just awaiting some last minute discussions in the Dáil, some machinations in the Seanad, and then the final approval of the Finance Bill, traditionally, sometime in February and then it will be all over for another year and it could well be the last budget delivered by the FG/Labour coalition as we move inextricably towards the promised “E-A-R-L-Y” spring election. Before we know it, it will be 2016 and we will all have forgotten about Mr Noonan’s last budget.

However, for us in Waterford, there is another budget looming on the horizon – the Waterford City and County Council budget.

As the Council begin to mull over their financial figures and projections for 2016, we are once again nearer the time for our Council Executive and our Council Representatives to vote on the 2016 budget, which will be somewhere around the €132,000,000 mark! It is a time for us to see how our representatives perform in what is seen by many as their most fundamental task.

Will the proposed budget be passed? Will we see pact voting? Will we see strategic voting? Will we see a genuine forensics analysis of the budget figures?

This is the time of year when our public representatives earn their corn and it really is a time of year when we hope that they will look at the bigger picture, rather than a parochial view of their own wards, and make the right decisions that will drive economic investment back into the City Centre and further afield across the whole County. Failure to understand the economics of making sound budgetary decisions will have a profound effect on how we perform as a City and County in 2016.

This budget sets out the Council’s spending plans for 2016 and also sets income targets on big ticket items such as the Commercial Rates collection which in the last budget was circa €32,000,000, it sets the household charges, car parking charges and all the other associated cost centres that will allow the Council to operate for the next 12 months. We will also see spending plans outlined and discussed such as the delivery of the Waterford City Centre Urban Renewal Plans, festival spending budgets, roads maintenance plans, housing spending and much, much more besides.

The headline figures for businesses will, of course, be the Commercial Rates collection amounts and whether or not these will remain the same, increase or ideally, for businesses to invest, these should be reduced by up to 20%. A rates reduction will encourage investment, will increase employment and will make for a better City Centre.

Alas, I feel that these will remain the same as the last two years and yet the brave decision has to be the introduction of a significant reduction to help struggling City Centre businesses. Any offset in the reduction of rates will be collected with new businesses starting up and a significant rates reduction will go some way to encouraging the retail brands the City is currently missing to invest in Waterford. In addition a better retail mix will drive increased footfall and this in turn will also encourage more business start-ups and these new businesses will pay their share in commercial rates. Win Win!

Another brave decision would be the reduction in car parking charges and, if the Council take the lead in this process, then the private owners have to follow suits. This is still the elephant in the room and until we tackle this issue we will find it increasingly difficult to encourage the people on the “Dunmore Road” into the City Centre never mind further afield.

I still wonder if, due to their free car parking passes, our representatives see the car parking as an issue or perhaps they drive around wearing rose tinted glasses.

After all, if it costs you nothing, zero, nada, nil to park your car in Waterford City and County why would there be a problem?

Imagine All The People.

As businesses edge ever closer to the last quarter of the 2015 financial year many will start reviewing the year just past and start to scrutinise whether or not it has come up to the meticulous financial planning that took place some nine or even ten months or so ago. As each of Waterford’s many City Centre businesses give due consideration as to whether 2015 has been a good, bad or just an average year we must bear in mind that there as some circa 1500 people employed across our City Centre and as such our City Centre is one of our largest “employers” and the success or failure of our City Centre will impact on everyone who lives, works and plays in Waterford.

There can be no doubt that increasing footfall in the last quarter of the year will be welcome, but I fear that it will not be enough for a number of businesses who are once again literally hanging on by their fingertips – it seems that this is becoming a rather worrying annual trend!

We need to address a more constructive and creative way of increasing the footfall right across the entire City Centre and we need to ensure that our City Centre becomes a destination that attracts and encourages a higher spend from right across the wider South East region and further afield.

At present we can see continued pressure on our City Centre businesses and there is repeated increased pressure on these businesses in terms of paying the “day to day” associated business costs. In fact there are many business owners now having to resort to paying for business bills and expenses on their own personal credit cards just to survive from one month to the next. Yet this message of hardship does not seem to be being addressed and there are many people that quite wrongly assume that if you are in business today in Waterford you are making a fortune! How wrong can you be!

Let us not be in any doubt that Waterford is on the third or last tier of Ireland’s economic recovery and we lag so far behind the likes Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway that it will take significant investment and help to get us near to any sort of meaningful recovery, let alone on par with these other Cities that are now so far ahead of Waterford that we may never catch up. By the very nature of this lopsided, central belt, recovery the South East and North West will need considerable economic incentives that far exceed what we are currently receiving at the moment.

Our City Centre employers must have an opportunity to compete and this in turn will create employment and this in turn will generate greater spend and this in turn will increase footfall – it really is a case of ever increasing circles. But alas there are those who cannot see these opportunities and rather than use carrots to get our localised economy moving, once again we are being beaten with not one stick but several sticks all at once.

So just how do we increase the footfall through our City Centre and that is the €64,000,000 question?

Our festivals certainly bring additional footfall to the City but they do not necessarily bring increased spend for our hard hit commercial rate payers. The many festivals that we can now call annual events do continue to be reasonably successful but as with all events they have a lifespan and there are pluses and minuses to holding and staging such large annual events.

Unless these are staged as part of an overall “festival plan”, that avoids “clustering” of events, then there will be a diminishing return on our investment. In addition due to the fact that we continue to see falling or stagnant footfall to the City “clustering” our festival automatically equates to lessening the economic benefit for the commercial rate paying businesses in our City.

If we are to become a “festival capital” capable of rivalling the likes of Galway City then we must try harder to get it right, and perhaps more importantly we must work harder to get a greater “buy-in” from the very businesses that are paying their part through annual commercial rates contributions. At present many of these businesses see and perceive no or very little financial return and therefore we will continue to see issues around “buy-in”. Perhaps the messaging is all wrong and just maybe certain stakeholders are just expecting businesses to “buy-in” without examining the messaging they are delivering. Or at the very least they are wrongly “assuming” they have got the messaging right when in fact the only people on the same page are those closest to them and not the wider City stakeholders.

In a past life I organised trade exhibitions all around the UK and to keep these exhibitions fresh and relevant we had to introduce new exhibitors every year, we had to develop the exhibition every year and we had to be very creative with the messaging every year. If we got all that right we would continue to see annual increases in visitor numbers and increased visitor numbers meant more income for the exhibitors and this in turn gave the exhibition longevity. Get it wrong and an exhibition would very quickly become extinct. As I see it attracting people to our City Centre is much like attract people to those exhibitions I once relied on to make a living. In the exhibition industry we needed to have lots of carrots and there was not a stick to be seen anywhere.

One of the other recurrent issues with driving footfall up in the City Centre is of course the perceived cost of car parking. As a City we can now see mounting pressure attracting people from residential areas such as the Dunmore Road into the City Centre. The now huge variety of new shops and free car parking available in and around Ardkeen means there is less of an incentive for people to travel those extra few kilometres to the City Centre.

Drive past this area of the City and you will see many, many cars parked and many people shopping. And with the imminent proposed start to the excellent GIY project there will be literally many more attractive carrots in this area that will prevent even more people coming into the City Centre.

So it seems that unless we come up with a holistic approach to ensuring the renaissance of the City Centre we will continue to see it struggle and we will continue to see footfall remaining stagnant or falling. We really must come up with creative solutions that communicate the unique selling points of our City Centre and we need to give our City Centre businesses a much needed helping hand.

Let us stop looking for radical consultant lead answers when every man and his dog knows what is needed. We seem to be trying all manner of complicated solutions and yet the answers may well be right under our noses.

Are we using the wrong type of bricks to get the City back on track?

Are we using the wrong type of bricks to get the City back on track?

And to try to explain what I mean I will revert back to my childhood and when we were all “wee bairns” we all played with Lego Bricks, Stickle Bricks, Duplo Bricks and probably Meccano (advanced types of bricks if you like). But what we never did was try to play with them all together or try to create a design that incorporated aspects of multiple differing bricks, as it simply did not work. No matter how hard you tried the Lego was not compatible with the Duplo or the Stickle Bricks and absolutely nothing was compatible with Meccano!

As a child our worlds were completely consumed by one type of building material that suited one specific age group until we were old enough to eagerly move onto something else that suited a completely new older age group.

My own building path went as follows; Stickle Bricks, Lego, Meccano and then Airfix, and I would hazard a bet that many reading this article followed the exact same path – age permitting of course.

This was of course a deliberate ploy by each manufacturer and I am sure that they all agreed in the confines of cosy “Golden-Circles-Boardrooms” that each would target a specific market sector and by ensuring that each construction set was non-compatible with another in the market they could ALL have some market share and of course each would then have a chance to build brand loyalty. What ultimately happened with each of these toys is that you were either a Lego boy or a Meccano boy or Airfix boy and so on. We see this now replicated in the twenty first century but with phone brands – it is either Apple, Samsung, HTC, Nokia, Blackberry and so on.

What has made many toy manufacturers and today’s modern phone suppliers so successful is that they have literally moved heaven and earth to make you the consumer brand loyal. They have ensured that you have made an informed choice to support one particular manufacturer as you have become accustomed to that brands; quality, feel, technology, design, the tactile nature of the product, the way the product make you feel and so on. By sticking to one winning formula that is ever evolving and ever improving, albeit in small increments, they have ensured that you will stick purchasing what you know because you know “It does exactly what is says in the tin.”

So what of brand Waterford and the future development of the City and its City Centre?

There has been much talk and debate in recent weeks around the future Urban Renewal Plans, the North Quays, the Michael Street Shopping Development, the Apple Market Development and of course much debate around the developed Viking Triangle area and access in and out of this area of prime real estate or our most expensive bus park, as some are now calling the area (and with some justification too).

But in terms of moving the City forward I often feel and so do many others that there appears to be very little joined up thinking when it comes to actually developing the City. Or in other words some are Lego users, some are Stickle Brick champions and some are Meccano aficionados.

On the surface we have many, many great and potentially future changing ideas but I and many others do feel that getting them ALL to work together in harmony for the betterment of Waterford citizens will be a monumental task, an impossible task even. One does get the feeling that all the plans we read and hear about are somehow being drafted and discussed in isolated underground bunkers where no other opinion matters for fear of upsetting someone, and as a result we do not get the much needed robust debate and we do not get people willing to put a hand, never mind their head, above the parapet. It is almost as if there is a collective fear around getting involved or perhaps there is a fear that decisions have already been made and no matter what lobbying or interaction takes place the only opinion that matters is the one that comes out of the underground bunker!

I admit that there is concern and apathy from many businesses that despite the circa €33,000,000 paid in commercial rates they will never really be listened to and the citizens of Waterford at times simply feel “What is the point!”

We have yet to build any brand loyalty towards the City and we are ALL confused as we see too many different messages and this ultimately will create confusion, bewilderment, apathy, indifference and so on. The City must start delivering projects in real-time and delivering these in a proper logical order.

So, let us deliver and build the Michael Street shopping centre, then deliver a North Quay development and if we see hundreds of thousands of extra tourists and visitors spending money in the City as a results of these two developments, then have a look at the traffic flow and roads.

But whatever we do we must ALL be using the same type of bricks otherwise nothing will get done.

ENDS

Unity equals strength: my tip from Table 16!

Who can remember this?

There can be absolutely no doubt that Waterford City, Waterford County and the greater South East Region (SER) need a unique holistic approach to getting us back on track and in line with the rest of the Republic’s economic recovery.

There is a three tier recovery taking place across Ireland no matter what spin Government put on it. With Dublin and its own greater region running well ahead of the rest of Ireland, then coming along hotfoot close behind is the West/Cork/Shannon/Galway areas and taking the rear is the South East Region (SER) and the North West Region (NWR). If we are really to spread the vast majority of industry investment, outside of Dublin, then we must do it now just as Ireland Inc is beginning to show a better shock market price, when compared to our competitive countries across the rest of Europe.

Accelerated investment outside of Greater Dublin must happen sooner rather than later. I read a report last week that stated there is a very real possibility that 60%-70% of jobs, and therefore the population, could migrate to the Greater Dublin Region in the next number of years if there are not investment policies put in place to make areas such as the SER more attractive to business and therefore investment.

It consequently follows that to make the SER more attractive for jobs and job creation we must be in a position to make the SER the most attractive place in Ireland to invest in.

But how do we do this?

For a start we need to make the cost of doing business in the City, County and SER as cost efficient as possible. A simple starting point would be to reduce the huge burden placed on businesses through the local payment of commercial rates. Commercial rates are needed and are quite rightly a local tax that pays for local services. However, the collection of commercial rates takes absolutely NO account of how a business and or local economy is performing. And therein lies the huge problem. Our local businesses that are struggling to generate turnover and cannot employ additional staff because the fundamental cost of being in business is crippling in terms of the commercial rates contribution.

I have for a long time now advocated that a commercial rates system similar to that operated for VAT payments should be introduced, and we know that the VAT collection for 2014 and at the start of 2015 is now well ahead of budget estimates. As a business becomes more profitable then the commercial rates income can increase but when times are harder this imposed burden placed on businesses must be consequently lessened. This in turn will go some way to ensuring unemployment is kept to lower levels as businesses can afford to retain staff members.

Following on from lessening the cost of being in business in the SER we had a visit last week from The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, and supported by Enterprise Ireland with a road show in the Tower Hotel that focused on the SE Jobs Action Plan. I had attended two previous meetings and expected much of the same.

However, this was to be a very different event with circa 160 people from around the SER sitting at tables of 8-10 with each table or “Innovation Cafe” (as it was termed) specifically tasked with investigating and exploring a specific theme. Our table, Table 16, was looking at the “branding” of the SER and how we could make a difference to the current perceived representation. Other tables were looking at education, clustering, innovation etc.

Table 16 was made up of people from right across the SER – Waterford, Kilkenny, Wexford and we even had guest from neighbouring tables visit us who included people from Tramore and Limerick. Our “branding” table were to look at the current image of the SER and what a future image should look like.

We all agreed that the SER is not only a great place to work, there are good educational establishments, pockets of significant engineering and manufacturing companies, terrific scenery, superb beaches, many important ports, an excellent road network, magnificent rivers, great hotels, great food, brilliant restaurant etc etc.

My notes from Table 16

In fact Table 16 could not see any reasons for investing anywhere else!

And yet we lag so far behind in terms of inward investment, job creation, and third level attainment and so on. We need to find the fundamental reasons as to why we are not competing with other areas of Ireland and why we are not landing many more multi-national companies or FDI.

It became clear to Table 16 that the branding of the SER is all wrong with too much reliance and emphasis on the tourism industry and not enough focus on industry, education, manufacturing, access, infrastructure etc etc. We do very, very well with the indigenous Irish tourist but appallingly badly at attracting the International Tourist. And it is the same with trying to attract more businesses into the SER – we are doing ok but could be doing so much better.

I also had the opportunity to speak on behalf of Table 16 to share our views and findings with the wider audience in the room and this was done with my usual gusto, delight and hopefully positivity. In fact the facilitator in his final summary came back to reference Table 16 and what we said to the wider audience.

The challenge will now be to ensure that the circa 160 people in the room now go away from the “Innovation Cafe” and actually make a difference and go that extra mile to put the SER on the investment map, so to speak.

All of us at Table 16 know the next step in our journey is going to be the hardest as the main population areas across the SER need to work together as a region. And like it or not Waterford City has to be at the very heart of that region. That is not to say that the City should have a monopoly on the jobs and investment but rather the City must be the main economic driver if the SER is to see substantial investment over the next few years.

Real South East Regional teamwork is now required and old sporting boundaries do need to be put aside for the betterment of all the 500,000 who live and work across the SER of this Island. We should ALL be prepared to work together and at the right time come together to relax and enjoy each other’s company.

And remember “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful and committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”