Deal with local GAA club will see expansion of Macroom parking

The chairman of Macroom’s Municipal District Council, Ted Lucey, has welcomed an agreement with the town’s GAA club which will bring up to 70 additional free car parking spaces under the auspices of the authority.

The agreement was reached in recent days with the GAA club to transfer the management of the car parking spaces it maintained at its pitch within the castle grounds to the council.

The authority will now be responsible for lining and maintaining the facility.

“It’s a great boost to the town to have these car parking facilities, especially now that more people are coming to the town to spend some time here after the opening of the bypass,” said Mr Lucey, who is a Fine Gael member of the council.

He paid tribute to the GAA club for its generosity.

Contention

The issue of parking space in the town centre has always been a bone of contention at its council meetings, but more so since the opening of the €300m bypass, which has made the town centre more attractive for people to travel there to do their shopping and enjoy a meal or a cup of coffee in local eateries.

Another issue that was raised at council meetings was the possibility that heavy vehicle traffic bound for West Cork would continue to come through the town, because a sharp turn at Millstreet Cross, near where heavy goods vehicles would come off the bypass to head towards the turn off for West Cork at the Mons, was, in the view of many, difficult to negotiate.

What has been described as significant progress is being made on a project which would improve the access for heavy goods vehicles at this cross, and while a number of hurdles including planning and funding have to be cleared, the improvement works could begin within 18 months.

“I had raised it at council because of my concern that trucks would still be coming through the town after the bypass was built to stop that as much as possible,” said Mr Lucey.

“This was a missing piece of the jigsaw and while funding has to be secured and planning permission, it looks like that there will be improvements there.”