Sir, – By abolishing town and borough councils, this Government banished to the wilderness hundreds of years of history, tradition and structure, with little or no debate. There is reason to believe that the small towns and cities of Ireland will suffer irrevocably from this decision.
For many years local town and borough councils have had the resources to develop and present themselves well; witness the quality of the streetscapes and the cleanliness of many of our towns. None of this happens by accident; they are the result of concerted management and effort by those responsible within the local town councils over many years. The new scenario will dilute this effort by spreading the resources more thinly across the larger municipal areas well beyond the town boundaries.
The death of town centres by the promotion of out-of-town shopping centres and other developments will be ever more likely with the loss of the strong voice and authority of town representation. It should be remembered also that what is good for most towns is ultimately good for the surrounding area, in terms of business and economic activity. It is generally recognised that good planning revolves around developing centres of population which are sustainable, with the critical mass in terms of population to develop services properly. Again, the new scenario with municipal areas can only harm such objectives, with struggles for the locating of development between the rural and town members and the likelihood of an in-built majority of rural-based representatives.
There are also other less tangible impacts that result from the civic pride strengthened by the ceremonial aspect of town governance, civic receptions, and so on.
We have allowed something very valuable to be thrown away, which we may live to regret. I hope I am wrong.
GER MULVEY,
Kells Road,
Kilkenny.