New town centre car park to be first project rolled out under €15m Cahir Regeneration Scheme

A new 91-space car park and the relocation of Cahir Library will be the first projects to get off the ground in Cahir town centre’s €15m regeneration scheme, which will take up to four years to roll out.

And Tipperary County Council hopes to be ready to go to tender early next year to appoint a contractor to develop the car park on the derelict site of the old Castle Court Hotel off Church Street, says Cahir/ Cashel/Tipperary Municipal District administrator Anthony Coleman.

He outlined the council’s plans to roll out the regeneration scheme in the wake of the Department of Rural & Community Development’s decision to allocate a Rural Regeneration Development Fund grant of €11.915m for the regeneration of Cahir town centre.

Tipperary County Council must contribute almost €3m in matching funding.

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Mr Coleman said following the RRDF grant announcement, the council is awaiting the receipt of a formal letter of approval from the Department of Rural & Community Development. The department has indicated that letter will be issued shortly.

Once the council receives this letter and due diligence contractual arrangements are finalised between the local authority and department, the council will be ready to go to tender to appoint a contractor for the first phase of the regeneration scheme.

The car park will be the first regeneration scheme project to be developed as it needs to be in place before work starts on the “public realm” revamp of The Square and its approach streets.

The car park will have a direct access link to the Square and will have parking spaces for coaches, EV charging points and several long-stay bike lockers and short stay bike parking.

Mr Coleman said the council may carry out the relocation of Cahir Library from the ground floor of Market House to the Granary Building at the same time as the development of the car park as they are two independent projects within the regeneration scheme.

The library is vacating the Market House on The Square as the protected building is to be restored and redeveloped along with the old council offices next door into a business and training centre operated by Cahir Development Association. This is another Cahir regeneration scheme project.

The facelift to The Square, Castle Street, St Mary’s Road, Old Church Street and Church Street will be carried out on a phased basis to minimise disruption to local businesses and traffic, Mr Coleman assured.

Due to the scale of Cahir’s regeneration scheme, Mr Coleman estimated it will take three to four years to roll out all the projects.

“We are obviously delighted to get this level of funding from the Department of Rural & Community Development,” he said.

“The regeneration scheme has been in the pipeline for quite a number of years and we look forward to working with partners like Cahir Development Association and local businesses to bring Cahir to another level.”

Mr Coleman noted that coming up with the matching funding of almost €3m is a challenge the council now faces in order to deliver Cahir’s regeneration scheme in the timeline it wants.
Welcome

Cllr Marie Murphy has joined with Fine Gael party colleague Senator Garret Ahearn and other local politicians in welcoming the €11.915m RRDF allocation awarded to Cahir.

She said it was fantastic news and recalled how she and Senator Ahearn met with Minister Heather Humphreys in April during her term as Cathaoirleach of Tipperary County Council to push Cahir’s RRDF application along with the applications for Carrick-on-Suir and Roscrea.

“A great deal of work has gone into the Cahir project over the past 4 years or so and all involved in securing this funding should be commended,” she said.

“This plan will see the rejuvenation of three important town centre buildings which are either vacant or significantly underused thereby increasing footfall in the town centre with associated knock-on effects for shops, cafes and other services.

“The public realm enhancement works, and transport hub (the car park) will provide a more attractive and accessible town centre for workers, shoppers and visitors alike and will elevate Cahir as a key destination town,” she added.