Kilkenny City Centre ‘health check report’ says it could benefit from some investment into historic built environment

A new report says Kilkenny could benefit from some investment into their historic built environment.

It’s one of several findings in the Kilkenny City Centre collaborative health check report.

The report is designed to help inform investment decisions for the future management and revitalisation of the city centre.

The report found that consumers and businesspeople felt Kilkenny City Centre would benefit from investment in the historic built environment.  This includes investment in the historic building stock, enhanced liveability and accessibility for walking and cycling in the town centre, and further investment in cultural and natural heritage.

Key findings include:

• The most popular reason to be in Kilkenny was being a resident (34.9%) followed by retail (27.9%).
• 90% of respondents purchased the majority of their clothing in Kilkenny.
• 61% of respondents thought pedestrianisation would enhance the liveability of the city centre.
• 74.4% rate live music and events in Kilkenny as either very good or good.

The report also found that there are approximately 20 vacant retail buildings in Kilkenny City Centre – this represents a ground-floor retail vacancy rate of 10.10%, which is at the higher end of the recommended level of vacancy in towns and cities. The CTCHC Programme believes that a healthy vacancy level in town and city centres should not exceed 11%.

Read the full thing HERE.