At their February meeting, Environmental Services Committee members had asked council officers to engage with businesses in Lurgan and Portadown town centres, in order to gauge levels of interest in participating in the proposed scheme. An online survey was conducted via the Citizen Space platform in April, with a total of 427 between Lurgan and Portadown notified of the survey (248 in Lurgan, 179 in Portadown). Advertisement Advertisement Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to NorthernIrelandWorld, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.
It was also discussed at a Lurgan Working Group meeting and Portadown Chamber of Commerce meeting. In addition, town centre managers promoted the survey whilst out visiting local businesses in the preceding months. Despite the large number of businesses contacted, and efforts made to publicise the scheme, the response to date has been extremely poor, as a report on the matter, circulated at the June Environmental Services Committee meeting, explains: “We had a total of five returns for the survey from businesses willing to offer facilities, all from businesses in the Lurgan area in the following locations: 52 William Street; 30 High Street; 81 William Street; 23a Castle Lane; 7 High Street.
“One of the businesses has limited hours on Saturday / Sunday, and another two are not open at weekends. Advertisement Advertisement “One business (a licenced premises) cannot allow under 18s on the premises unaccompa.
