Green light for Killarney car park

Extra vehicles using a new car park in a town hit by chronic congestion will not create a traffic hazard, An Bord Pleanála has ruled.

The planning appeals board has given the green light to a 142-space car park on the busy Muckross Rd, in Killarney, Co Kerry.

Kerry County Council — which previously refused planning to local businessman Con Duggan for the car park — is to engage consultants to carry out a traffic management study, including parking, in Killarney.

There’s a shortage of parking, especially during the tourist season, and a multi-storey car park is being considered as part of a solution to the problem.

The previous refusal was based primarily on traffic safety grounds.

Mr Duggan had initially applied for permission for 98 car spaces and 13 coach spaces, but revised his proposals after the council requested further information. As a result, he abandoned the coach space plan.

There were a number of objectors to the development which is in a mixed business and residential area on the Ring of Kerry tourist route.

Concerns were raised about likely traffic hazards, impact on child safety, landscaping, and the effects of excessive noise at night.

However, the appeals board granted planning subject to conditions, saying the development would be in keeping with zoning for the area, would not impact on amenities, and be acceptable in relation to traffic safety.

The forthcoming reopening of nearby Killarney House and Gardens is also expected to generate a need for further parking facilities.

Meanwhile, the council will shortly look for public submissions on redesigning a junction in Killarney which had been altered just a year ago.

Local councillors claimed work at the junction of High St, St Anne’s Rd, and the Monsignor O’Flaherty Rd had only exacerbated an already-bad situation.

Independent councillor Donal Grady said there is traffic chaos in the town for the second successive summer and called on the National Roads Authority to ensure the redesign will not be a waste of taxpayers’ funds.

He said the junction was one of the main causes of traffic problems in the town. “The changes just simply aren’t working there.”