Monies ringfenced from car parking receipts should go towards the complete refurbishment of the Fairgreen car park a local Councillor has claimed.
Speaking at the monthly meeting of Athlone Moate Municipal District, Cllr. Aengus O’Rourke, noted that a large nucleus of drivers from the town converge on the central site on a daily basis to park their vehicles.
“Whether it is for work or social purposes, the Fairgreen car park is continually full withas locals and visitors to our town park their vehicles in what is the main parking facility in Athlone.
“However, the car park is now in such a dilapidated state and in need of much refurbishment. There is much income garnered during the year from car park receipts and monies received in this regard should be allocated towards upgrade works in the Fairgreen,” Cllr. O’Rourke remarked.
Noting that any refurbishment project should include relevant disability and cyclist facilities, Cllr. O’Rourke suggested that 2020 would be a sufficient “lead in time” for progress in this regard.
Broaching the topic, Cllr. Louise Heavin, stated that any potential refurbishment would allow the local authority an “opportunity to look at the history of the Fairgreen” and this could be incorporated into future development at the car parking facility.
“We should aim to make the Fairgreen more attractive from an historical perspective not just be solely focused upon refurbishing the car park as is. The need to reduce vehicle usage coming into our town is paramount,” Cllr. Heavin stressed.
While in agreement with Cllr. Heavin pertaining to the historical significance of the Fairgreen car park, Town Mayor, Cllr. Frankie Keena, noted that there was “great scope” for refurbishment of the facility.
Concluding, District Engineer, Pat Nally, stated that the Council were presently “oversubscribed” with regard to parking spaces in the Fairgreen adding that such a project get be one for assessment in the forthcoming local authority budget for 2020.
