Frustration continues to grow in one of Portlaoise’s most established estates over parking issues with residents regularly blocked in.
Grenville on the Dublin Road – opposite The Killeshin Hotel – was the subject of two motions at this week’s Portlaoise Municipal District meeting in Laois County Council with both Cllr Paddy Buggy and Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald bringing the issue up.
The two motions were heard together while another motion was also closely linked.
The presence of a creche as well as a mosque close to the entrance to the estate – with no additional parking spaces – has caused ongoing frustration for residents.
“I’ve had a lot of contact from residents,” said Cllr Fitzgerald. “A lot of residents are finding it difficult to get out of their homes. They’re not being fully blocked in but they are being partly blocked.
“There are lots of children playing in there so it’s a safety issue too. The residents are really asking for help. They are looking for support.”
“Childcare facilities are a very important to our families and all of us wish to keep children
safe at all times,” added Cllr Buggy.
“To this end I’m asking the council to examine what options might be possible to facilitate the safe dropping off and collection of children at this busy junction while facilitating the wishes of the residents of Grenville Estate.”
Cllr Buggy added that he hoped an “imaginative solution” could be found.
“This is going on for years,” added Cllr Caroline Dwane-Stanley. “We’re all getting emails from residents in the area about it.
“It’s particularly bad on Fridays (a busy day of worship in mosques). Planning permission was granted in a built up area on a busy road.”
Cllr Tommy Mulligan added that he has also picked up on a “huge level of frustration”. “A lot of people are deeply annoyed. There is parking of cars on a green area where children are playing. A private housing estate is being used as a public car park.”
The official response from Laois County Council stated that they will liaise with An Garda Síochána “to support appropriate enforcement of traffic regulations”.
Separately a motion from Cllr Paddy Buggy said that Laois County Council “consider only allowing new places of worship to be located where there is sufficient parking space for those who attend their place of worship”.
The council response to this was: “Laois County Council will assess applications for new places of worship in accordance with the development management standards of the County Development Plan (2021-2027) which include parking requirements and the zoning objectives for the area”.
“Along with our duty to facilitate the physical wellbeing of our citizens we should also try to facilitate the spiritual wellbeing of our citizens as best we can,” said Cllr Buggy.
“In putting forward this motion I’m conscious that there are many forms of spiritual belief in this country. Many people have their own spirituality with many like minded people wishing to congregate to worship as a group or congregation.
“To facilitate this, groups either purchase or build a building to cater for their needs. As many of these worshipers travel distances by car to their places of worship parking is essential and therefore I’m suggesting that in future a requirement for granting permission for a place of worship is that there is sufficient parking to facilitate the worshipers.”
Cllr Tommy Mulligan brought this back to the earlier discussion in relation to the parking issues in Grenville.
“This is about learning lessons from previously. The mosque was granted permission but the residents are suffering now.”
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