A 23-point plan to improve the business and social life of Bray was launched by the town's Chamber of Commerce yesterday. It is based on independent research carried out among 86 business people and 446 local residents, who expressed a remarkably low esteem for the Co Wicklow town.
Residents gave negative satisfaction ratings to the quality of law enforcement, shops, traffic, public toilets, parking, commercial facilities, and evening entertainment.
Paradoxically, the same residents gave a very positive response to questions about their overall satisfaction with the town.
"It may be a perception thing," suggested Mr Stuart Kenny of the Chamber of Commerce. "People recognise that Bray is a naturally pleasant place to live. It has Bray Head, the river, good bus services, DART and access to Dublin, but they want to see action on things they have identified.
"The gardai and the Urban District Council do many excellent things, for example, but there is a perception that perhaps not enough is being done."
Surprisingly for the chamber, which has found itself in opposition to lobby groups on the development of shopping centres away from the main streets, the survey revealed that residents overwhelmingly prefer this type of development to out-of-town shop ping centres.
"It indicates that the people who live in Bray recognise that out-of-town centres drain the life from the town centre, and the residents don't want that," said Mr Kenny.
The survey also shows that residents agree with business people in wanting to develop Bray as a commercial entity in its own right. Some 86 per cent of residents agreed with this, while 92 per cent also felt the town should develop as a tourist resort.
The report makes recommendations for action in four areas. They are crime and security; appearance and reputation; traffic; and the lack of suitable community, leisure and entertainment facilities.
These recommendations include the following:
A more visible Garda presence with television cameras in key locations;
The installation of litter bins every 100 metres and a comprehensive street sanitation programme;
The extension of the town centre one-way system with the synchronisation of traffic lights;
A new DART station north of the harbour and better access to the town at the Wilford and Killarney Road junctions;
The provision of a civic centre;
A fully-serviced conference centre and the development of golfing, walking and angling facilities;
The preservation of Bray Head as a walking area;
The restoration of the seafront promenade; and
Developing the amenity value of the River Dargle.
