FOR the third time in as many months Dunmanway-based Cllrs Declan Hurley (Ind) and Deirdre Kelly (FF) have called on the Council to provide the people of Castle Street with off-road parking.
At every meeting the municipal district officer Jacqueline Mansfield told the councillors that any car park – a temporary one or a more permanent facility – would require a design plan as well as a Part 8 planning application.
James Crowley's car.
But with residents having their vehicles damaged on a weekly, or monthly, basis, Cllr Hurley said they can’t wait much longer.
As it stands, some residents, who have space outside their doorway, are using the footpaths for parking.
But others are forced to park on the roadway, which contributes to Castle Street being a bottleneck given the narrowness of the street and the fact that it is used by heavy goods vehicles going to a nearby test centre, as well as vehicles drawing timber from forestry sites.
‘The preferred approach would be to proceed with a design plan and a part for Castle Street,’ the municipal district officer said. Given the demand for car parking in Dunmanway, in general, she said the local authority will be looking at the site in the context of providing parking for the whole town.
If people park outside their homes in Castle Street in Dunmanway it becomes an absolute bottleneck, say residents, who want off-street parking.
But Cllr Hurley and Cllr Kelly were adamant that a temporary solution is needed as a matter of urgency. They proposed the removal of a concrete wall that the Council built around a house it bought and then knocked down. They said the footprint of the house and the wall – which ultimately will serve as an entrance to a larger car park at the rear of the houses – could be covered in hardcore and used in the short-term by the Castle Street residents.
‘The residents need somewhere to park,’ said Cllr Hurley.
‘I agree completely,’ said Cllr Kelly.
‘The Council needs to put a temporary car park in place because if the residents park on the street there isn’t even room for one car to pass on the road. Every week one, two or three cars lose wing mirrors, or sustain damage.'
