New campaign group in Carrick-on-Suir is striving to save Main Street parking spaces

Fifty-four business and property owners worried about regeneration scheme plans to remove almost half of car parking spaces on Carrick-on-Suir’s Main Street have set up a pressure group to lobby Tipperary County Council to retain as many spaces as possible on the thoroughfare and to create more.

The Main Street Business Initiative was formed at a meeting of concerned Carrick town centre business owners, tenants and property owners on May 15.

And the new group has already sprung into action and arranged a meeting with senior Carrick Municipal District council officials.

That meeting is scheduled to take place at Carrick Municipal District’s offices at Carrick Town Hall on Thursday, June 13 – just days after the local elections.

Meanwhile, following the MBI’s creation, a motion was unanimously passed by councillors at Carrick Municipal District’s May meeting last Thursday calling on the Council to endeavour to retain as many parking spaces as possible to support businesses on Carrick’s Main Street.

The motion, tabled by Carrick Cllr Kieran Bourke and seconded by fellow Carrick Cllr David Dunne, also called on the Council to seek to provide extra car parking spaces to ensure the town has no parking issues for its inhabitants and hinterland.

Carrick’s Main Street is set to lose 27 parking spaces when it’s streetscape is revamped as part of the €17.9m Carrick-on-Suir Regeneration Scheme that secured planning approval in December 2021 with the first phase currently in progress.

The number of parking spaces will drop from 56 to 29 as part of the facelift.

The Main Street Business Initiative says this reduction in parking spaces will remove the opportunity for people to park and collect outside shops and businesses on the street.

The group’s goal is the retention of the maximum number of parking spaces in order to retain convenient parking for shoppers to protect the livelihood of Main Street traders.

MBI spokesman Michael Hearn of Hearn’s Hardware Store of Main Street said the traders and property owners have formed this group now because as the regeneration works draw closer, the reality of the impact the loss of these parking spaces will have on their businesses has “begun to dawn on them” and many feel a “little bit frightened”.

He says the availability of parking needs to be convenient for shoppers visiting businesses on Main Street.

“The infrastructure should support the local commerce,” he argues.

Mr Hearn points out that traders on Carrick’s Main Street are competing against retail parks where people can drive their cars right up to near the shop door.

They fear the loss of parking spaces may lead to customers living in Carrick’s hinterland choosing instead to do business in Clonmel or Waterford as it will be more convenient.

Mr Hearn says traders are particularly concerned about the impact the loss of parking spaces on Main Street will have on elderly people and mothers with young children who need to park close to a shop or business they are visiting.

He points out that the Strand Lane car park at the rear of Main Street near North Quay is accessed through narrow lanes and the gradients on these lanes are not suitable for elderly people and people with difficulty walking for safety reasons.

And while he welcomes the new car park the Council has secured planning approval to create at Stable Lane off Chapel Street, he fears it will be difficult for motorists to manoeuvre in and out of it due to its location.

Mr Hearn says one of the solution options the MBI is looking at putting to the Council is to create angled parking spaces on Main St. This would result in the retention of the street’s parking spaces.

He also argues these spaces are easier to park in and are considered a safe option by the Road Safety Authority and AA.

Mr Hearn praised the work of other business representative groups in the town like Carrick Business Association and Carrick Development Association as “excellent” and stressed the MBI is not competing with them.

He explains MBI has been set up to campaign specifically on this issue of parking because not all traders and property owners in Carrick town centre are members of business organisations.

He says the MBI wants all stakeholders to be included in the decision making in relation to Carrick’s Regeneration Scheme going forward.

Mr Hearn also stresses the MBI wishes to work with the Council to resolve the concerns business and property owners have about Main Street parking. “We want a solution, we don’t want a row.”

He welcomes the passing of the motion at last week’s meeting of Carrick Municipal District councillors calling on the Council to endeavour to retain parking spaces on Main Street and create more car parking spaces in the town.
“That was very encouraging,” he says.

In its response to the motion, the Council cited the extra parking spaces it is creating at Strand Lane and Stable Lane and stressed it’s continuing to seek opportunities to provide further car parking spaces in the town where a need is identified.