IT'S fast becoming a shoppers paradise but you'd be hard pressed to spend a penny in Letterkenny's fastest growing out of town centre developments.
The new shopping mecca on the Paddy Harte Loop Road in Letterkenny boasts some of the top chain stores in the country - Next, Tk Maxx, New Look, Tempest and Argos to name just a few.
Marks and Spencer will join them when they open a new 45,000 sq ft premises in May.
It is estimated that on any given Saturday up to 10,000 people will pass through 'the new town centre'. Yet, if you have to use a toilet - the answer is hold on!
CINEMA OR MCDONALD'S
There isn't a public toilet on site or a green area. Instead, hard pressed shoppers, so to speak, have to cross one of the busiest roads in the countr]y and avail of toilets in places like Century Cinemas, McDonald's and the Radisson SAS Hotel.
One local businessman said his premises was "like a public toilet" at times as dozens of shoppers file through to use the facilities.
" They're in here from 9 am in the morning using the toilets. I have some sympathy for them because there is no public toilets in the area but I couldn't allow this to continue," he said.
"Some don't even ask. I think this was something that the planners should have looked at when the shopping area was being developed. Surely, there should have been some stipulation in the planning that toilets would be put in place when a development would go over a certain floor size. I don't blame the developer- it's the planners I feel have to answer this one," he added.
BASICS
He welcomed the new stores and said Letterkenny was fast becoming one of the top retail towns in the country but felt the council had to get the 'basics' right as well.
"It is mostly mothers and families that are out shopping and public toilets should be available to them without any hassle," he concluded.
TOWN PLANNER
Town Planner Ruth Diver agreed there was an issue about the toilets but explained the background.
"There was no provision in the current town plan to make it a requirement for such a facility. There are stipulations and standards that are laid down to developers but public toilets was not one of them. It is something I feel needs to be addressed in the review of our town plan this year, as it has come up in several applications," she said.
