SIXMILEBRIDGE is to get a new car park in the near future, the January meeting of Shannon Municipal District heard.
In a motion to the meeting Fine Gael councillor John Crowe sought an update on the proposed new car park, while he also suggested that it proceed in tandem with a new housing development, which he said would be going into the same field.
In a written reply, Senior Executive Officer Anne Griffin said that it is planned to go ahead with the car park this year.
“Clare County Council is committed to developing a car park in Sixmilebridge town centre,” said Ms Griffin.
“The Economic Directorate is reviewing the proposed car parking element of the recent Part VIII in conjunction with the feedback recently obtained through the Sixmilebridge Master Planning exercise under the Town Centre First Policy.
“The Housing Department has proceeded to tender for the housing element of the site in consideration of funding timelines. It is also the Directorate’s intention to progress car parking on this site in 2023.”
Councillor Crowe said that the issue is like “a long playing record” and has been ongoing since 2011. He welcomed the report saying the reply gave the commitment he had been seeking for a long time.
Independent PJ Ryan said that there is a shortage of parking in Sixmilebridge, while Councillor Donna McGettigan said she had often planned to stop there while passing through, but almost always didn’t, due to the lack of parking.
Director of Services Liam Conneally said that providing the parking would improve dwell times in Sixmilebridge.
He said there are currently a lot of “moving parts”, not least a planning application for a commercial development. However he said that he hoped to see movement on the provision of parking
sooner rather than later.
Summing up, Councillor Crowe said that the provision of parking is now very important, as Sixmilebridge’s population has expanded dramatically without any new car parking being made available.
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.