Stirling traders ‘devastated’ by closure of city street days before Christmas say "we're still open"

Traders in a city centre street partially closed due to falling masonry from a building there just days before Christmas say the closure has been “devastating” for them.

Businesses in the city’s Port Street were left gutted when a section of the road outside their premises had to be shut for safety reasons last week.

A ‘safety zone’ has been set up in Port Street and Stirling Council has implemented a road closure on the southbound carriageway there – from Upper Craigs to King’s Park Road – as well as the footway in front of the affected property.

The closure has impacted four separate businesses there – The Pend Cafe, Ginger Roots Greengrocers, Frances Hunter Hair and Beauty and the Let’s Party store.

Problems were first identified on Saturday, December 16, when Stirling Council’s Building Standards Team was contacted by a business in Port Street following reports of fallen masonry from a private building. The ‘safety zone’ was put in place on the footway in front of the Ginger Roots Greengrocers shop until further investigations could be undertaken by an engineer.

By Wednesday, December 20, evening, the council received a report following the inspection, which identified further structural risks requiring the extension of the safety zone to ensure public safety.

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Stirling Council is required by law to take action and carry out work to protect the public under the Building (Scotland) Act 2003.

The Pend Cafe took to its Facebook page to confirm that they, along with the three other outlets, remain open for business and to thank Go Forth Stirling and Stirling Council for social media posts advertising that businesses remained open.

They posted: “Just want to thank Go Forth Stirling business improvement district (BID) and Stirling Council for the posts advising the four businesses that have been directly affected, detrimentally, by the road closures on Port Street, are still open, along with clearly stating all other businesses on Port Street are open too. And a massive thank you to each individual and businesses, that have also shared the posts.

“For this to have happened on what is the busiest week of trading for all four businesses is just devastating.

“However, hopefully through the power of social media and word of mouth, the public will know everyone is still open and we can all have a successful week.

“We wish for every small business to succeed, especially during tough times, and hope Port Street will be back to normal again soon.”

In a statement released last week, Stirling Council said: “All efforts are being made to ensure that impacts to the adjacent businesses and city centre are kept to a minimum.

“No-one is currently residing in the three flats in the affected building and all occupants and owners are being contacted.

“Impacted businesses and other key stakeholders are being informed of the situation and we will provide further updates as soon as possible. At this stage it is still unclear how long it will take for the property owners to repair the building and we will continue to keep residents and businesses updated while we work with the property owners to make their building safe. However, it is likely that these essential safety measures will be required to remain in place over the festive period.

“We apologise for the inconvenience this will cause at this time of year as we work with the property owners to resolve the situation. However, we must ensure the safety of the public.”

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