Fears voiced for future of Carrickfergus High Street amid growing number of empty units

Samantha Dale said that the current state of the street is “sad” and the outlook is “worrying”, and that a plan for redeveloping the town centre relies too heavily on tourists.

Miss Dale has been running Bells newsagents since 2010, when she took it over from her parents.

Bells had been operating from its big old High Street corner shop – arguably the most prominent premises in the town centre – for 54 years until the building was recently put up for sale and she had to move (though she said the shop’s history goes back about 250 years beyond that).

The new Bells is in a smaller unit in nearby Market Place now, which she described as “beautiful”, but its departure has left a big and very prominent hole in the High Street.

And this gap will soon by joined by another when Dobbins Inn – also a major long-term fixture of the street, located just next door – shuts near the end of this month.

“I think it is an absolute crying shame that the two oldest premises in Carrickfergus are gone,” she said.

"Myself and Dobbins are the two cornerstones.

"We’ve been through the Troubles – you name it, we’ve been through it.

"And they’re now within the space of two months they’re both gone. It’s sad.”

Dobbins’ closure will take the number of vacant units on the relatively-short High Street to at least four, by the News Letter’s count.

A massive revamp of Carrickfergus is planned, with Mid and East Antrim Borough Council having submitted four planning applications to itself which will involve, among other things, replacing the vacant Danske Bank branch on the High Street with a tourist office.

Miss Dale fears this will be “a complete waste of money”.

"Good God – how many white elephants do we need?

"We already have a huge civic centre, we already have a town hall.

"I don’t get why they’re spending the money…

"I cannot see that Carrickfergus can rely on tourists to help save it.

"I think you have to start with the people of Carrickfergus, and if you get the tourists after that, sure isn’t that great?"

She added that “for Carrickfergus to survive solely on the hope of getting tourists… without being rude, what are they going to come to? Do they want their nails done? Do they want their hair cut?”

She believes there has been too much development out of town (such as the ongoing growth in businesses around the Rhanbouy area to the south-west of the town centre, and Abbeycentre in north Belfast), where people can park for free.

There is currently much free parking at the town’s harbour, but part of that is going to be removed to create an “urban beach” (basically a kind of sandpit for children to play in).

Business rates on the street remain “huge” too she said, whilst footfall has reduced thanks to online shopping.

To make the town into more of a social hub with more independent shops, a “radical” reduction of rates would be needed, she said.

“The people of Carrick are very disillusioned,” she said.

There had been a rumour in the town that another High Street business, The Central Bar, could either move or close, but when the News Letter asked its owner JD Wetherspoon about this, a spokesman confirmed that this is untrue.