A COUNCILLOR has called for a survey on parking to be carried out in the coastal village of Courtmacsherry with a view to increasing parking options in the village, which is now experiencing a influx of visitors all year round.
Cllr John O’Sullivan (FG) raised the motion at a meeting of Bandon Kinsale Municipal District calling on the Bandon area office to carry out such a survey as he said it’s apparent a parking issue is emerging there.
‘It used to be for just five or six days of the year when there would be gridlock but now it’s all the time. This has increased with the opening up of new businesses in the village as well as Courtmacsherry being included on WAW (Wild Atlantic Way) route,’ said Cllr O’Sullivan.
He pointed out that Courtmacsherry has almost become the ‘whale watching capital’ of the country and that with a new boat coming on stream the total amount of people across four boats will be 86 people, and parking will be needed for them.
‘If we lined the pier and we got it organised we could get extra car spaces and maybe a few green areas where we could put a few more cars in. But we need to carry out a survey on parking and see what’s achievable and work from that.’
Cllr O’Sullivan said there is also the issue of emergency vehicles and the difficulties they may experience in responding to a situation when the ‘streets are clogged up.’
Cllr Sean O’Donovan (FF) supported the motion and said they should be doing everything they can to support businesses as well as residents in the village with providing suitable parking options.
His colleague, Cllr Gillian Coughlan said that Courtmacsherry is ‘booming’ and the community there are the backbone who work together with the businesses and visitors there to keep it thriving.
‘Some sort of consultation with residents and business owners on parking certainly needs to take place and what we do see during the summer is a significant number of families coming into the village with two cars,’ said Cllr Coughlan.
Cllr Marie O’Sullivan (FG) supported the motion and said there is a good group of people in Courtmacsherry and a parking survey would benefit all.
Senior Council executive engineer Richard Cahill said he was thinking of putting in some yellow lines in locations that are frequently congested.
