Twenty minutes of free parking approved for town centre streets

Motorists can avail of 20 minutes free parking in O’Connell Street and Gladstone Street in Clonmel from March 1 2027.

That concession follows a decision taken by members of Clonmel Borough District at their monthly meeting.

The councillors rejected the option of introducing free parking for one hour on both streets.

District Manager Jonathan Cooney told the meeting that if one hour’s free parking was introduced, there would be a reduction in parking revenue of 58 percent from both streets. If that happened, the Borough District wouldn’t receive approximately €233,000 in parking charges that was otherwise returned to the town, while a further €202,000 that it received in its GMA (General Municipal Allocation) would also be reduced.

Mr. Cooney said that both allocations were spent on the cost of staging festivals and events in Clonmel and enhancements around the town.

The proposal for 20 minutes free parking was supported by the District Mayor, Cllr Siobhán Ambrose and Cllrs. Pat English, Tom Acheson, John FitzGerald and Richie Molloy.

It was opposed by Cllr Niall Dennehy.

The Mayor acknowledged that there was a petition calling for one hour’s free parking, but said that difficult decisions had to be made in the running of the town and raising much- needed revenue.

She said that 20 minutes of free parking in O’Connell Street and Gladstone Street would improve the turnover of parking spaces and would give businesses a quicker turnover of potential customers.

If they didn’t maintain their 2023 income levels from parking they would lose funding for festivals and events, as well as for the upgrading of car parks such as the Kickham Street car park. The €233,000 that they received annually was spent on business support initiatives, signage, the public realm works for the town centre, tourism promotions, cultural events and community engagements. The public could see where that money was spent, said Cllr Ambrose.

As part of the new schedule, all parking machines would be replaced and the new machines would have a coin and card-payment facility, she added.

Cllr Tom Acheson said that a survey conducted in June showed 90 percent of the parking spaces in O’Connell Street and Gladstone Street were occupied all the time. He spoke to a lot of shopkeepers and they were in favour of a regular turnover of spaces.

The introduction of 20 minutes free parking wouldn’t solve all the problems in the town centre but it would be a positive initiative and would help the businesses.

Cllr Acheson said they were doing their best to encourage people back into the town and support the traders. They also had free parking for 30 minutes in the Mary Street car park.

Cllr Pat English said that this initiative would help the people who drove into the town to collect a prescription from a chemist or a bouquet of flowers, or to get a takeaway coffee. It would improve the turnover of parking spaces.

Cllr Richie Molloy said that this was the fairest way to ensure a rotation of parking spaces, which was needed. Also, funds were needed to keep the town alive and support festivals such as the Junction, Applefest, the Busking Festival and events such as the Zombie Walk and the Santa Parade.

As well as the 20 minutes of free parking, there was the free car park at the Gas House Bridge and 30 minutes of free parking in the Mary Street car park, while it cost €3.50 a day to park at the Kickham Street car park.

You were listening to people all the time saying the town centre was dead. You would swear that nobody was coming into the town but that wasn’t the case, said Cllr Molloy.

Cllr John FitzGerald said that this decision was a nod to those people who drove into town to call into the bank, the post office or the chemist. The funding that was returned to Clonmel helped businesses and improved the fabric of the town.

He was proud they had all worked together to make a difference to the town centre.