It has been suggested that Naas town is booming, but there are two contrasting views amongst the Naas MD Councillors. It seems that the pubs are full and you can barely book a table in a restaurant in Naas. My sense is that while the night-time economy is doing well, the daytime one isn’t. The shopping centre is still unopened, and information that I sought on the number of rates payers in arrears would seem to corroborate my view. Listen back to KFM's 'Naas Town Hall' prerecord from a few weeks ago here.
As at 31 December 2023,190 active rates customers were in arrears of less than two years (amount outstanding €833,514) and 38 active rates customers were in arrears of more than two years (amount outstanding €903,921). I have been informed that one major sum owed has been repaid, reducing this latter figure by approximately €250k.
Businesses pay commercial rates (as I do in my own business, The Money Advisers) so this tells me that there are almost 240 businesses in trouble in the Naas area. That’s quite a shocking number. And in the hinterland of Naas, 240 businesses represents a large proportion of the traders. Every business that closes down is one less reason to come into town; so failing businesses beget failing towns.
There’s another point to this. The income from commercial rates pays is a major income source to provide for the entire range of services provided by Kildare County Council. That means that approximately €1,433,000, being the amount of money outstanding, is not available to us for public services: the maintenance of our parks, playgrounds, street lights, roads, footpaths, street cleaning, libraries, waste and recycling, community, arts, housing and all the other services that the council provides.
The establishment of a Naas Town Development Team is not a ‘nice to have’; this is a ‘must have’ if we are to have a thriving town centre by day and by night. For the shopping centre to reach its potential, Murtagh's Corner needs to be reconfigured back into a four way junction. This is a job for Kildare County Council. Our parking bye-laws need to be radically overhauled, and thru-traffic using the main street as a motorway needs to be eliminated once and for all.
If you are interested in getting involved, please get in touch.
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