An independent book shop owner has questioned Council’s decision to place hanging flower baskets on derelict properties – while denying her store one for years.
Proprietor of Bridge Books in Dromore, Leslie Price, says she has been refused a basket by Council for the last number of years “because of budget restraints”.
Leslie, who has been trading for almost 30 years, says that she was told that there would no longer be any hanging baskets distributed in the town, as of two years ago, however, each year since, there have been baskets erected.
What has irked the shop owner is the fact four were placed (pictured) on two properties that were derelict and boarded up earlier this month.
“28 years worth of rates paid and I still can’t get allocated a hanging basket,” she wrote on social media earlier this week.
Speaking to Armagh I, Leslie explained: “When the brackets first went up years ago I couldn’t get one because the street was too narrow, and it didn’t have a footpath, but that has now changed.”
Leslie says another trader is in a similar boat to herself because the former tenant did not wish to have one. Originally traders were expected to maintain the baskets themselves which put many off.
“That’s a long time ago,” said Leslie. “Surely they should revisit and come around to the businesses again. There are vacant premises with hanging baskets and then there’s us, who have been asking for a number of years. It would be really nice to have one.”
She added: “Surely when the workers who are putting them up, they’d realise that some of these buildings are falling down, boarded up for 30 years and ask ‘why are we putting one up here?’ They’ve just hung four baskets on a building that is derelict and another that’s been boarded up for some time. Then there are many occupied businesses who are not getting any at all.
“We’ve been told this last couple of years there was no budget. I’ve approached Council and asked to get a hanging basket for the following year. We were told there won’t be any hanging baskets next year because of cuts. That was for last year and, lo and behold, they appeared.
“We were under the impression then, that this was a one off, and that they would not be back this year, however, come Monday night, they’re back. It seems like one hand doesn’t know what the other is doing.
“It’s not that they have missed me out, they just haven’t offered me the facility to have one.
“As far as I can remember it has been at least 10 years since Council last asked businesses about these baskets; it’s maybe time they looked at this again.
A Council spokesperson said: “Every year we supply a bright and colourful range of floral displays to towns and villages across the borough in an effort to enhance these public spaces for the benefit of residents and visitors alike.
“Hanging baskets are normally placed on existing brackets that have been in situ for many years. Due to an oversight, some hanging baskets were mistakenly placed on a couple of vacant properties in Dromore and have now been removed.”
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