Ombudsman's ruling on Carrick-on-Suir parking petition complaint 'like door slamming on town', says action group
That's the verdict of the Main Street Business Initiative that submitted a complaint to the Ombudsman over Tipperary County Council's failure to respond to its petition seeking retention of parking spaces earmarked for removal from Carrick's Main Street
The Ombudsman has decided not to uphold a Carrick-on-Suir action group's complaint against Tipperary County Council over its failure to respond to its petition seeking retention of parking spaces earmarked for axing from Main Street under the town's €18m regeneration scheme.
The Main Street Business Initiative handed over the 6,676 signature petition calling for the retention of the 21 parking spaces to Carrick Municipal District's former Cathaoirleach Cllr Mark Fitzgerald in January 2025.
Following an investigation of its complaint, the Ombudsman concluded the Carrick Regeneration Project was approved through a Part 8 planning process with a statutory public consultation process almost three years before the petition.
The Ombudsman accepted the petition was outside that statutory process, so the Council was not obliged to treat it like a formal Part 8 submission. It concluded there was no written promise from the Council to verify the signatures or give a detailed written response. It accepted the Council can continue the regeneration scheme as approved and is not entitled to change course because of hte petition.
However, the Ombudsman found the Council has no clear procedure for petitions outside of formal statutory consultations and is to recommend that in future the Council clearly state if it will consider a petition, and explain why not if it decides not to act on it so people aren't left in limbo.
MBI Chairman Bobby Fitzgerald said the Ombudsman's decision feels for the traders involved in the group like a “door slamming on a town that has been shouting down a long corridor”.
“We understand the law has tied the Ombudsman's hands but it is a hard thing to tell a trader who will lose the parking outside his door that the decision which may end his business cannot be examined by an independent body at all. For the people on this street, that is not accountability. It is a closed room.
“Maybe in law there was no enforceable 'legitimate expectation'. But try telling that to nearly 6,700 people who signed their names. They believed the town was speaking. What they got back was a formal nod and then a deep silence.”
He criticised the fact that instead of pausing or recalibrating the regeneration scheme when it became apparent there was concern in the town about the removal of the Main Street parking spaces, the council's elected members passed a motion reaffirming the scheme in November 2024. “To many traders, it looked as though a crowd had gathered at the door and spoken, and the answer was not to open the door but to bolt it,” he said.
Mr Fitzgerald said the MBI cautiously welcomed that the Ombudsman intends to recommend the Council adopt clear written rules for dealing with petitions.
“That is a small but important improvement. If it's honoured it may spare another town the confusion and long wait Main Street has endured.”
The complaint to the Ombudsman was one of a series of complaints the MBI submitted to a range of Government and statutory bodies over the Carrick Regeneration Scheme plan to cut parking spaces on Main Street.
Mr Fitzgerald said the MBI believes “all meaningful non-judicial remedies have been exhausted” and it's now considering legal action.
Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District., meanwhile, welcomed the Ombudsman's decision and said it has been informed the case is closed. It said it fully engaged with the complaint process providing all information requested by the Ombudsman's office.
The Council said it noted the comments of the Ombudsman in relation to petitions, and was engaging with colleagues in Tipperary County Council's Corporate Section to explore how best to address this matter.
“The MD appreciates that not everyone is going to agree with the plans for Carrick-on-Suir but the role of the Council in devising improvements for the town is to work with all stakeholders and to devise a plan that meets the key objectives of the local population in as balanced a manner as possible but being mindful that we will never get 100% sign off, irrespective of any project.
“In a democracy, where there has been an opportunity for local stakeholders to input their views and concerns into the decision making process; where these have been reasonably and rationally considered and where an informed decision is then taken by the democratically elected members of that council, then it must be concluded that a solid and fair process was undertaken and the local authority should do all we can to ensure the decision is implemented.
“It is this process where the local authority was granted planning permission for the works in December 2021, that the Ombudsman determined was carried out correctly,” the Council added.