Car park talks slow, but going in right direction

DINGLE is still waiting on a new car park despite earlier promises that it would be finished by June of this year.

Kerry County Council plans to develop a car park in the heart of the town with space for approximately 80 cars. However, a deal has not yet been finalised on the still undisclosed site.

More parking spaces are urgently needed in the town, especially during the busy summer period. Although Dingle already has three car parks on the waterfront and another in the mart grounds, along with on-street parking throughout the town, the shortage of spaces to accommodate the volume of summer traffic is a major issue.

This summer saw the lack of parking spaces causing stress for locals who work in the town and frustration for visitors coming to the area.

John Sheehy, of the Dingle Business Chamber and the Dingle Peninsula Tourism Alliance, says that the parking crisis is a considerable concern in the town.

‘The Dingle Business Chamber and the Dingle Business Alliance have urgently been seeking Kerry County Council to create 200 more parking spaces in town,” said John, adding: “This summer saw the loss of 60 car parking spaces in the town, due to more spaces being designated for bus parking at the pier.”

The lack of sufficient parking spaces also causes a build-up of traffic in the town and John said this is a major problem “especially on rainy days when the town comes to a near standstill”.

He added that emergency services are “seriously concerned about the difficulty of getting emergency vehicles through Dingle when traffic has clogged up the town”.

The proposed new car park will follow the same pay-parking system used for the existing car parks. Council spokesperson Owen O’Shea explained that “the [car park] development is made feasible due to the revenue being generated from pay parking in the existing car parks and the potential for revenue generation in the proposed car park”.

He said that while negotiations regarding the planned new car park have been slower than anticipated, “they are progressing positively and there is a willingness to reach a conclusion as soon as possible”.