Clare County Council says it’s imperative options around sustainable mobility and potential car parking continue to be explored.
It comes as new figures revealed at this week’s meeting of the Ennis Municipal District show the number of public spaces in Ennis has reduced by almost 10% in the last 15 years.
A former Mayor of Ennis claims more than 9 million euro in annual turnover has been lost, due to the reduction in car parking spaces in the county town.
Johnny Flynn has pointed to a car parking report carried out in 2008, which found there were 980 on-street spaces and 759 off-street spaces in Ennis, making up a total of 1,739.
Fifteen years on, this number has dropped to 905 on-street and 675 off-street spaces, meaning the overall number of parking spots in the town has fallen by 159, to 1,580.
The Fine Gael Councillor says he believes this reduction will have an impact on other services.
Clare County Council has attributed the reduction in spaces to a variety of works aimed at improving the safety of pedestrians and school children, and ensuring greater access for disabled persons.
Other measures were also taken to “boost economic activity in the town centre”, such as the development of the Friar’s Walk Coach Park and the provision of parking at the Cloister.
An additional 85 public parking spaces are also due come on stream at the Waterpark campus in Drumbiggle in early 2024, while planning permission has been granted for a further 129 permanent spaces at the Cloister Carpark.
Senior Executive Officer with the Ennis Municipal District, Leonore O’Neill says that with a projected increase in population over the coming years, the Council’s focus must be on sustainable alternatives to increased parking spaces.
Council figures show the number of car parking spaces available for use by the public now stands at 2,923, when spaces provided by private enterprises such as Tesco, Aldi and Dunnes Stores are taken into account.
You can listen to the full interview below.
