Published: Thursday, 18th February, 2010 9:42am

Town centre hell

Comments (0) | Print | Email

By Ewan McInnes

PROFITS DOWN: Aldo Corolla has had to lay-off one member of staff PHOTOGRAPH BY JOE MULGREW

BUSINESS owners affected by the £800,000 town centre roadworks have said they are suffering a severe downturn in sales.

Although the majority of shop owners think the redevelopment of Cross Arthurlie Street will bring long-term benefits to Barrhead, many are feeling the pinch.

Some have reported that their sales as down as much as a quarter.

L'arco owner Aldo Crolla, 47, who has had his chippy on the street for 22 years, has seen his takings drop considerably and has been forced to let go one of his employees since the roadworks began last month.

Aldo said: "My takings are down 25 to 30 per cent on last year.

"Don't get me wrong, it is always quiet at this time of year, but this is a lot quieter than last year.

"I have had to make one person redundant, some staff have taken their holidays early and hours have been cut because there is nothing that needs doing - it can't get any worse.

"I am worried about the long term effects and hope I don't permanently lose customers to my competitors."

The other businesses on Cross Arthurlie Street who we spoke to on Monday included One Beauty Salon, Barrhead Newsagent and General Store, Barrhead Shoe Repair, Davos Hair Design and Central Cafe.

A spokesman for East Renfrewshire Council, which is carrying out the redevelopment, told the Barrhead News they beat-off other towns in Scotland to get this cash and said the long term benefits outweigh the current problems. He added: "While the work is going on to regenerate Cross Arthurlie Street, it clearly will affect some local businesses.

"But the aim of the work is to keep the street open as much as possible and closure to an absolute minimum.

"Our roads team do this for a living -they know their business.

"Local businesses should be absolutely crystal clear that we don't like road closures any more than they do and we wouldn't be doing this work if it didn't need done.

"We got [the £800,000] for Barrhead for two very simple reasons - the town needed it and it'll help encourage more business for local businesses.

"We'll continue to talk up the town because that's what helps to bring people, especially shoppers, to visit and to think positively about the town.

"The entire Better Barrhead project is about breathing new life into parts of the town and regenerating it.

"The global downturn has affected many parts of our original plans, but here's work, that despite the short term hassle, promises to bring long term gains for Cross Arthurlie Street and for Barrhead."

Council roads chiefs added that the work on Cross Arthurlie Street is exactly on schedule.