HARD-PRESSED shoppers and business owners in Carlow town centre received a welcome boost this week with the decision to provide 30 minutes’ free parking on five streets in the town.
The decision was made following a meeting of Carlow County Council officials and the elected members of Carlow Municipal District last Thursday and will come into effect on Saturday 1 October. The pilot scheme will run for a four-month trial period and follows a call by the council earlier this year for public submissions on the issue of car parking in the town centre and its effect on commercial activity.
The areas selected for the scheme are Tullow Street Upper and Tullow Street Lower (after 10.30am), Dublin Street, Kennedy Avenue, Potato Market and Castle Street. The scheme does not extend to public car parks.
“I hope that 30 minutes’ free on-street parking will encourage more people to pop into our town centre with the peace of mind that they have 30 minutes to get a job done in one of our many local businesses,” said mayor of Carlow cllr Fintan Phelan.
The mayor thanked all the individuals, businesses and groups, including the chamber of commerce, which made submissions to the council as part of this review of the parking by-laws. “With 30 minutes free on-street parking in pay and display areas, we are trying out something fresh and hopefully it will encourage more people into our town centre,” he added.
Director of services with Carlow County Council Bernie O’Brien acknowledged that in order to “effectively re-energise business on Carlow’s historic streets”, all the stakeholders must work together to come up with solutions which make an impact “that can be measured from an economic, social and cultural viewpoint”.
“In order for this trial period to be effectively evaluated, it will require a significant measurement in terms of impact and we would encourage all commercial premises to monitor the effect of same over the coming months,” Ms O’Brien added.
Deputy chief executive Dan McInerney encouraged all visitors to Carlow to avail of the many free parking facilities in the town and to show their support for local businesses. “We in the council are committed to the development of our business community and we will continue to work with the chamber of commerce and business interests to reach this common goal,” said Mr McInerney.
Senator Jennifer Murnane O’Connor welcomed the development but stated that a lot more needed to be done to solve the issue of parking. “We need to take a look at the number of loading bays there are in the town centre. There are far too many and also the signage is a disaster – it needs to be clearer for people when they can and can’t park,” she said.
