Tullamore school seeking to extend its car parking spaces

THE board of management at Scoil Eoin Phoil 11 Naofa at Arden View in Tullamore is seeking to extend its car parking facilities.

The car park currently caters for 21 vehicles and is located to the west of the school. The new development will be located on the south and will create an extra 19 car parking spaces.

The local planning authority is due to give its decision on August 23.

There is a serious issue with traffic and car parking in the Arden View area especially during school hours.

In addition motorists use the estate to drive from Arden Road onto Clara Road and visa versa. Furthermore a new adjacent housing estate in Kearney's field will soon welcome tenants and residents are worried that traffic from these houses will exacerbate what is already a serious problem.

The matter has been the subject of much debate at Tullamore Municipal District meetings.

Tom Shanahan, the Director of Services said he had walked through the estate to ''get a first hand understanding of the situation.'' He said ''there are a few issues up there, it's not the [Kearney's Field Houses] development in isolation that we are looking at. Certainly we are not proposing any solution until we have a well thought out solution,'' he said.

Councillor Sean O'Brien said one major issue is that people are parking in the estate all day long, leaving their cars while they go to work etc.

41 houses are nearing completion at Kearney's Field next to Arden View. The houses which are due to be finished in this month and allocated in August have one entry and exit point on to the estate.