A sideways look at the parking problem in Clonmel

As part of the Clonmel Chamber initiative, I am on the team concentrating on ways of improving the Town Centre. I am joined in this by Ken Hennessy (Hennessy Doyle Architects), Conor Moroney (Moroney Shoes) and Des Hourigan (permanenttsb Clonmel).
Ask any town centre trader what is the largest limiting factor on the town centre and most will answer insufficient parking.
The following car park facilities available in Clonmel at present:
Free All-day car-park at Gashouse Bridge
Reduced rate All-day Car-parks at Suir Island, The Quay/Anglesea St, Gordon Place
Regular pay Car-parks at Irishtown, The Quay, and Mary St/Town Centre

Up to now, the focus has been on the construction of a multi-storey in the town centre to cater for shoppers.
The Borough Council owned Mary St car park has been put forward as the best potential site... since I came back to work in Clonmel 24 years ago!
There are title and right-of-way difficulties which have precluded this site from being developed.

It may be time to re-appraise the entire problem and approach it from a different angle.
The Gashouse bridge site is wholly owned by the Borough Council, with no apparent title difficulties. It is currently used by office workers to park their cars for the whole day.
The reduced rate all-day car-parks at Suir Island, The Quay/Anglesea St, Gordon Place are used by largely the same people. These car-parks are very well located, close to the town centre.
If the Gashouse bridge site was developed as a multi-storey to house all the office workers, it would free up the car-parks at Suir Island, The Quay/Anglesea St and Gordon Place to be used as regular pay car-parks to facilitate shoppers.
This is a sideways look at the problem, but it may be a good one?

Let me know what you think.

www.pfq.ie

Market St Closure

It appears that Market St may be closed for longer than originally thought. Initially, it was hoped that the main digs and associated works, which started on the 19th of January, would be substantially complete within a few days. it appears however, that during the dig some archaelogical remains were found and work has come to a halt while this is being investigated.

The road was to be closed to through traffic for approx. 3 weeks, with limited local access for deliveries and parking. With the new and uncertain date for completion, traders are rightly worried that the lack of traffic and the large area fenced off will make retailing from this location harder than it already is. Many local businesses (ourselves included) who use the extensive car-parking off Constitution Lane and Market St itself are unable to access this space for the foreseeable future.

www.pfq.ie