Kerry County Council will examine the feasibility of altering parking bays in Castleisland.
It follows a motion from Independent councillor Charlie Farrelly at the recent Castleisland-Corca Dhuibhne Municipal District meeting.
He asked for MD engineers to investigate the possibility of changing the parking along Main Street; so that cars can be encouraged to reverse in and drive out of spaces.
Councillor Charlie Farrelly said that the council should take a leaf out of Mayo County Council’s book in terms of parking; whereby all parking should be reverse in and drive out.
He says the stakeholders involved are the business owners on Main Street in Castleisland, who he claims have been calling for a change to the towns parking for some time.
Cllr Farrelly urged for consultation to be done between now and September with these business owners, so that all the views can be taken ahead of the master plan and street upgrades.
He said long gone are the days where you can back out onto oncoming traffic; adding it would be a missed opportunity to have the street upgraded, without examining the feasibility of altering the spaces.
Cllr Jackie Healy-Rae raised concerns with the motion, saying the whole point of the master plan is that it will be delivered in consultation with everyone in the area.
He added the master plan has to be done properly; and raised concerns about losing parking bays as a result of the motion.
Cllr Farrelly’s motion was seconded by Fianna Fáil Councillor, Fionnán Fitzgerald, who said he didn’t see a conflict between examining altering the bays and the master plan.
Cllr Fitzgerald added that by undertaking this examination, it could be worked into the masterplan so the two could progress hand in hand.
