The business people of Mitchelstown were promised a bit of respite from the parking bedlam this week, as it was revealed that the traffic warden from Fermoy would be making regular, random and unannounced visits to Mitchelstown until the position of traffic/litter warden is filled.

The news emerged at the Northern Area Committee meeting in Mallow, when Director of Services, Tom Stritch responded to a motion by Cllr Frank O’Flynn, while Cllr Kevin O’Keeffe also brought it to the table at this week’s Fermoy Area Meeting in Mitchelstown.

Tom Stritch explained that when the job was advertised internally, there wasn’t huge interest from staff members and due to the recruitment embargo, they can’t advertise externally for it. But, he said, this is a temporary measure as they will be advertising the position again and would hope to find someone to cover both the Mitchelstown and Charleville areas.

Speaking at a meeting of the MBA attended by councillors Frank O’Flynn, Noel McCarthy and Kevin O’Keeffe, Noel McCarthy said that the fact that the visits will be unannounced will be a huge help, as it will bring control back into parking in the town.

Chairman of the MBA, Mark Waldron stressed that this will mean that people won’t be able to leave their cars parked on the main streets all day and he also said that the warden would monitor things like people parking in loading bays or on double yellow lines.

Mark also dispelled the myth that parking tickets do not have to be paid and he said that engineer Brendan O’Gorman stressed that if people do not pay their parking tickets, they will be face a court appearance. 

He added that the business people of the town would also appreciate if people living in apartments in the town centre could park elsewhere, particularly if there is private parking available for them, so that spaces can be freed up during the day for potential customers, stressing that they would not be immune from parking tickets and fines.

Councillors told the business people that there will inevitably be teething problems, so they advised people to make note of any issues and they could meet again in a month to iron out any problems.

Meanwhile, the Fermoy traffic warden going over to Mitchelstown caused consternation at Tuesday night’s Fermoy Town Council meeting, where some councillors questioned why this information went to the Northern Area Committee before Fermoy town councillors were told.

Cllr Tadhg O’Donovan said that they should have been told first and should have been allowed to have their say, but Town Clerk Pauline Moriarty said that staffing is an executive function in which the town council have no say. 

The new town manager Niall Healy, said that the movement of staff in a situation like this is ‘a sign of the times’. “It’s the reality of where we are – people are getting pulled and dragged around,” he said.