Complaints of vape shops, nail bars and neon signs on Portlaoise Main Street

Portlaoise councillors are unhappy with the number of vape shops, nail bars and barbers opening on Main Street, and want an end to neon signs too.

Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald tabled a motion to the October meeting of Portlaoise Municipal District, asking for the council to control what Laois business ventures open on the street.

She wants “greater diversity of businesses” as Laois County Council prepares to invest millions on a new public realm makeover to regenerate the town centre.

“Particular consideration should be given to the increasing number of similar businesses, such as nail, barbers, vape shops”.

“Especially vape shops, open late at night, with neon signs. That’s what the public are saying to me and that’s what I see myself. It’s a huge issue in the town.

“Those vape shops are open till 11 and 12 at night, big neon signs, and everything else.

“To me, vape shops should be licensed and controlled, like in the supermarket where you have cigarettes behind a counter. That’s a Governmental thing but we as a council should do everything that we can within our power to plan for the future of Portlaoise,” Cllr Fitzgerald said.

Her motion also asks for an update on a multi-million public realm makeover plan that is underway for the town centre.

“As town councillors we should be involved earlier in the part 8 plans, I always feel it’s nearly too late when it comes before us for approval. It has to be the councillors’ plan as well,” Cllr Fitzgerald said.

“From what I can see it’s going to pedestrianise most of Portlaoise. We should be more actively involved, getting feedback from the people we represent. No disrespect to whoever's making up the plans, but we have to stop what’s happening. It’s happening in other towns too, but people are sick and tired of what’s going on,” she said.

Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley who ran her own barbers shop in Portlaoise for many years, seconded the motion.

“It’s vitally important that the seven elected members in the Portlaoise district have their footprint and fingerprint all over the plan for our town centre.

“I remember years ago in 2008 or 2009 we had a pile of empty premises on Main Street, well over twenty. We’ve come a long way to address that but it has slipped with all the nail bars, the vapes, there’s mad colours on the street. They’re absolutely crazy looking.

“When I opened my barber shop I wasn’t allowed do that. You had to go to someone local for proper signage. You had to engage with the LEO office, to try and keep the status of the main street up.

“The council has put a huge investment into the main street for the library. We got it in the neck with the cost of €7m or €8m at the time. But it's a fantastic facility on the main street. When Shaws left it was like a ghost town.

“The council put the money in, there’s money for the event centre, the convent site.

“I don’t like saying it but some of these shops are letting our main street down. The public ask us why is this happening and we don’t have any input.

“Nail bars are needed and all of those other shops are needed but there has to be a certain place for them and our main street is not the place for them.

“Some of the signs you’d think they were after being bought off Amazon,” Cllr Dwane Stanley said.

Cllr John Joe Fennelly said they have shopfront guidelines in Abbeyleix Tidy Towns but they are not enforceable.

“I see neon signs in windows in other towns, even my own town. The timeframe to get something taken down or turn off neon lights, it’s definitely over a year. So nip it in the bud when someone is taking over a shop,” he suggests.

Cllr Paddy Buggy said that the signs have appeared beside the historic fort protector in Portlaoise.

“It’s the more heritage part of Portlaoise. People need to be sympathetic to that, it’s a lovely area that needs consideration on how it looks,” he said.

The council says that it is awaiting sketches and a report in November, which stakeholders will get to see. They say public consultation on the Part 8 plans could happen by March 2027, and works could start before the end of 2027.

Director of Services Simon Walton said that councillors and local interested parties will be shown the sketches for agreement, before they go out for public consultation.

He also said that the council cannot stop anyone opening a shop or dictate what they can sell.

“If I say own a sweet shop, a retail unit, according to national legislation, if I propose to change that to a vape shop or nail bar, I do not have to apply for consent.

“The thrust of the motion is for the council to control the number of a particular type of shop on Main Street, that option doesn’t exist for Laois County Council.

“I think there should be standards, in terms of shopfront signage, that everybody needs to comply with. There are many shops, to be fair, that have absolutely exemplary shopfronts but all those good efforts are maybe diminished by a few that are maybe tardy in that respect. They are the issues you need to discuss with the planners and there is agreement to a meeting,” the council director said.

“I don’t envisage there will be any specifically proposed pedestrianisation in the placemaking project, but it will facilitate it in the future. This project is around refurbishing the town centre that is vibrant and fit for purpose. This is a €9 million grant to Laois County Council for regeneration of the town centre. The council has to match it with €3 million. It’s a significant fund,” Mr Walton added.

The council planners’ formal reply to the motion notes that the Portlaoise Local Area Plan has a policy to promote an “appropriate mix of uses, address vacancy and strengthen the traditional retail core”.

“Any additional planning policy aimed at managing the concentration of particular uses would require careful consideration and be supported by a robust evidence base demonstrating a clear land-use rationale”.

They agreed to meet the councillors to consider their concerns.