Very little has changed in Fermoy in the 12 years since she was last here, town centre management specialist Liz Neal told a meeting on Thursday last.

The special meeting was called by the chairman of Fermoy Enterprise Board, local councillor Michael Hanley. He invited guests from a range of sectors locally to attend to hear suggestions and put forward their own ideas for what can be done to revitalise the town.

After her first visit to Fermoy in 2001, the chief executive of the City Centre Company in Coventry produced a report on regenerating Fermoy town centre with a number of recommendations for short, medium and long term actions. They included a recommendation that key stakeholders come together to develop a shared vision, regeneration strategy and action plan.

On Thursday last at Fermoy Community Youth Centre she told invited guests the positives are "that you are still here" and that the quality of retail development had 'gone up somewhat'. The negatives were that very little had changed, the streets were still the same, traffic is still an issue, the riverside is not optimised and parking is still 'a massive issue'.

Her advice was also the same. What's needed is a cohesive approach from all stakeholders, an action plan and a coordinator to drive it on. The time to do it is now, to co-incide with the end of the flood relief works, she stressed.

In the wide ranging discussion that followed, the points were made that more input was needed into the town's development plan; tourism needs to be redeveloped and new industry is needed. More use needs to be made of the river as an amenity; the town centre needs to be easier to negotiate and, having a public representative, particularly a Minister, would be 'a big plus', they agreed.

The idea of having a John Anderson Day, honouring the town founder's memory with a celebration of transport, was mooted.

"Maximise your strengths. The potential is there undoubtedly - you just need to unlock it," Liz Neal told them.

Fermoy town manager Niall Healy, felt it had been a very useful meeting and he signalled his willingness to be involved in formulating an integrated plan. He also offered to arrange a presentation to interested parties on the Draft Development Plan.

Concluding, Liz Neal told them: "You're at the point where you can't afford to lose momentum." There's only a short time remaining for them to give their input to the Development Plan. She agreed to make a further visit and speak with other stakeholders and they could look then at drawing up a new action plan. It's understood she examined the town's Draft Development Plan herself before leaving the town the next morning. 

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