Report Paul Murphy
An Aontú councillor on Meath County Council has expressed her “absolute shock” at the fact that there are 115 vacant commercial premises in Navan. Emer Tóibín had submitted a question to Navan Municipal District last month asking for details of commercial vacancies in the town. “I was very concerned to learn that there are 115 vacant commercial premises in the county town of Meath, a town that has experienced extraordinary population growth over the last 20 years”.
Over that period the population had “surged” by more than 35 per cent, growing from 162,621 in2006 to 220,826 in 2022. Navan itself had expanded even more rapidly with the population of the town and environs increasing by an estimated 60-70 per cent over the same period, she said. “So the obvious question is – how do we still have so many vacant commercial premises?” This reflected a wider national issue to some extent but Navan was not an average town. “With the scale of residential growth taking place our county town should be thriving commercially. It is one of the fastest growing urban areas in the country. With so many new housing developments and a growing population people are rightly asking why so many business units are lying idle”, Cllr Tóibín said.
The ongoing road works and traffic disruption had undoubtedly had a major impact on many local traders. Businesses had repeatedly spoken about reduced footfall and loss of trade during prolonged works but the issue went deeper than that, she said. Navan had increasingly become a commuter town with thousands of people leaving the town early in the morning and returning late in the evening. Most of their working day and spending power happened outside the town. For too long housing growth had raced ahead without the matching investment in local employment, transport infrastructure, town centre regeneration, parking and accessibility and support for indigenous industries.
Cllr Tóibín said “A growing population alone does not automatically create a vibrant town centre. If people are commuting for hours, shopping online or bypassing the centre entirely, local businesses suffer.”
