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Banagher Residents and Businesses Lose Parking Rights Overnight

An amendment to the Traffic Bye Laws by Offaly County Council resulted in the loss of parking for in excess of 50 houses and businesses on the Main Street of Banagher, with no provision made for alternative parking.

Double yellow lines have been painted down the right hand side of the Main Street, from Gallagher’s Corner, Cuba Avenue, to Portavolla, removing in excess of 50 parking spaces. The town already has ongoing problems with severe parking shortages, due to residential and business development in the town in recent years.

The measure arose as one of the proposals considered by Banagher Traffic Management Committee to deal with the bottle neck on the Main Street, as part of the new Banagher Town Development Plan. The proposal was put on display in the Library so that submissions could be made by residents in relation to it. Many businesses made submissions against the proposal, and felt that it should not be implemented unless provisions were made for parking and loading bays.

The measure was then passed by the Birr Town Area Committee and proposed to Offaly County Council and was passed by the Council during the summer 2008.

It appears that many residents and traders were unaware that this measure was the final one selected by Offaly County Council for implementation, out of the various traffic management solutions suggested by the Traffic Management Committee set up to address the issues.

Confusion surrounding the issue was exacerbated by the fact that the public notification of the amendment of the bye laws that enabled the measure to be taken was not published in local papers until the 10th of December 2008, after the measure had been carried out.

Residents received no notification or warning that the measure had been chosen and when it was to be carried out, until they were asked to move their cars from the street. This resulted in widespread dissatisfaction with the way the measure was implemented.

(Banagher Residents and Traders Association is a voluntary community organization which was set up in order to give a voice to issues which affect its community.

Its membership is open to all with an interest in fostering the development of Banagher socially, economically and culturally.)

Banagher Residents and Traders Association organised an open town meeting with Council officials to discuss the issues, and as a forum to voice concerns about the change in the bye laws and so that locals could be better informed about the changes.

The meeting was held in the Crank House on the 10^th of December 2008, and was attended by Willie Ryan, Council Engineer, and Councillor Sinead Moylan Ryan, and was chaired by Brendan O’Loughlin.

The meeting was well attended by the residents of the town.

Also in attendance were John Leahy, independent candidate and Tom Rigney, Fine Gael, who are running for local election in June 2009, and vocalised their support for the issues raised by the townspeople.

Several problems with the measure emerged at the meetings. These included the lack of notification to residents who were affected, and also the devaluation of their properties by the loss of parking rights. Many business units on the Main Street double as residences, compounding their parking loss. The existing car park spaces available in the Library Car Park and the Crank Road Car Park were already over used. In addition to this, the new bye laws have brought in one hour car parking in the Library Car Park, making it unsuitable for use by residents for over night parking.

Residents are forced to park their cars in areas where they cannot monitor them which has created security issues, and several incidences of vandalism have been reported to the Gardai where cars have been damaged. Residents are unable to monitor their cars at night when they are parked in isolated car parks.

Many believe that the move will cause tensions between neighbours as they compete for the limited available parking spaces left with shoppers who park in the spaces while shopping on the Main Street.

Local businesses say the measures immediately affected their trade, as shoppers unable to find parking on the overcrowded left hand side of the Main Street, facing towards the Shannon, take their business elsewhere. They say there has been a serious decrease in passing trade.

Local bank manager, Gerry Quirke, Bank of Ireland, Banagher branch, raised an issue with regard to the security risk of weekly cash deliveries as there is no loading area for the army and garda convoy escorting the security vehicle. A similar security concern was raised by a representative of the local post office.

Also issues were raised in relation to increased incidences of speeding up and down the Main Street in Banagher.

A number of alternative traffic management solutions were suggested by residents at the meeting.

Residents suggested that the measure should only continue to be implemented if provision was made for alternative parking for the residents. When this was suggested Council Engineer Willie Ryan stated that this was not an option as there was no funding available for provision of extra parking.

Another possible solution put up for the Council’s consideration which was the removal of the slip road at the library car park, which would vastly increase the capacity of the library car park.

It was also suggested that provision be made for residential permits, but residents were told this was not an option.

The Banagher Residents and Traders Association believe that the move is contrary to their aim of fostering enterprise in the town, as well as diminishing the quality of life of the residents and business people on the Main Street.

They also believe that due to the close knit community structure of the Main Street, the measure was not an appropriate one for a town of this size on a 24 hour basis.

Local residents and businesses on the Main Street have suffered the double blow of loss of parking rights and a loss of trade, at a time when businesses in Ireland are already facing a serious economic downturn. This is not just an inconvenience but a very real concern. An additional issue for businesses is that no provision was made for loading bays or parking for delivery lorries delivering stocks to these business. These deliveries can now only be made if delivery trucks park illegally on the Main Street.

The Banagher Residents and Traders Association feel that the measure is contrary to the objectives of the draft Town Plan which state under Road Traffic and Communications Objectives 4 & 5 that traffic management measures should be introduced as and when required, but that further car parking should be provided and that additional lands should be reserved for parking off Main Street. They believe these two objectives need to be taken in conjunction with each other, and that one cannot be implemented without the other.

They are currently in the process of undertaking a survey of town residents in order to gauge accurately the impact of the measures on enterprise and quality of life within the town. If this survey confirms the consensus that the amendment to the bye laws has had a negative impact on the town, they intend to call for the yearly review of the measures to be brought forward and for immediate review of the measures by the Council.

The Banagher Resident and Traders Association would like the measures to be re-evaluated by weighing the loss to the town in terms of enterprise and quality of life against the gain in terms of free flow of traffic. They believe that while the measures were well intended and sought to improve traffic flow in the town, they did not sufficiently take into account existing traffic management and quality of life issues.

Banagher Residents and Traders Association

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Banagher, Co. Offaly, Ireland.