Wexford businesses claim they weren’t consulted about new one-way system

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

With the new one-way system on John Street fully operational as of today local businesses have contacted Wexford County Council (WCC) to voice concerns about how it will affect their operations.

Contending that they had not received proper consultation regarding the works, which sees traffic now only able to move one way along John Street, towards Hill Street, businesses in the area say the system will negatively impact deliveries to and from their premises.

At the July meeting of the Wexford Borough District (WBD) Cllr Ray Shannon relayed some of the messages he had received from those affected.

“A lot of residents have contacted me with regards to the lack of consultation on the one-way system, a lot of them didn’t know it was happening until they saw it on one of the councillor’s Facebook page,” he said. “There’s some concerns from businesses too, including the undertaker, I think our engineers need to go and speak to the businesses in the area and let them know what’s happening because they don’t seem to know.”

Area engineer Eilís Furlong argued that the planned works had been well signposted in advance with extensive coverage in local media outlets.

“I have spoken to the main businesses there and gone through their issues and concerns, we’re working on a plan to alleviate those concerns,” she said. “But in terms of consultation it was on the front page of the paper, on South East Radio, and a lot of the councillors shared it to their social media, so it was very well publicised in advance.

"I understand people are frustrated, but it’s very difficult to contact everyone individually.”