The Sligo and Environs Development Plan 2004 - 2010 outlines the car parking strategy for Sligo. This strategy aims to ensure that there is an adequate supply of spaces to support the town centre businesses and that these spaces are effectively managed. The main objective is to remove cars as a dominant feature on the town centre’s streets so that there is ease of movement for the pedestrian and cyclist, in a safe and attractive urban environment

The Development Plan states that in the interests of using the town centre lands more efficiently and effectively, there is a preference for multi-storey car parks rather than surface car parking and that such facilities should be restricted to strategic locations on the immediate edge of the town centre. Three locations for strategic multi-storey car parks were identified at Connaughton Road, within the Buttermarket site and within the redevelopment of the Wine Street Block.

This car parking strategy should have ensured that each quadrant of the city centre was adequately serviced with car parking facilities to sustain the commercial activity within that section of the city.

However, since the adoption of the Development Plan, the opening of the Quayside shopping centre incorporating a multi-storey car-park has promoted a slow migration of retail activity to the town centre’s north and west and has resulted in a shadow effect being felt in the south-eastern area. It is clear that the three locations chosen for the provision of multi-storey car parking will over time reinforce this shift at the expense of both existing and potential commercial activity within the south-eastern quadrant.

In the interests of promoting a balanced approach to the delivery of car parking, it is recommended that the existing surface carpark at Abbey Street be considered as a possible location for the provision of a multistorey car-park. It is strategically located on the south-eastern edge of the city centre and has the potential to:

Sligo Borough Council proposes to make a variation of the Sligo & Environs Development Plan 2004 - 2010 for the purpose of including a Transport Objective (T7.1) for the existing Abbey Street Car Park to promote and support the realisation of a multi-storey car park. Public consultation is an essential part of the Development Plan Variation process. It is important therefore, that the proposed Variation is considered by all relevant parties.

A copy of the proposed Variation is available for public inspection at offices of the Local Authority during the period 21st March to 25th April, 2007, inclusive or may be downloaded from www.sligoborough.ie.  Submissions or observations with respect to the proposed Variation must be submitted to the Borough Council before 4.30pm on 25th April 2007.

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