With the retirement of traffic warden Jim Donnolly late last week, Cork County Council have said that pay parking is ‘highly unlikely’ for Mitchelstown. Jim retired after serving as the traffic and litter warden for the town for 11 years, but due to the embargo on recruitment in the civil service, a new warden cannot be recruited, and instead the position must be filled internally.

Engineer Brendan O’Gorman this week said that getting a private contractor in to the town to monitor the parking is something that is under consideration. He added that in the interim period, the council are asking the Gardai to be more vigilant about enforcing traffic laws, to ensure that people do not abuse the two hour free parking.

The chairman of the Mitchelstown Business Association (MBA), Mark Waldron said that the business people in the town welcome the news that pay parking will not come in, as Mitchelstown is among a handful of towns in Cork which offers free parking, and it is one of the things which encourages people to do their shopping here.

He added that the two hour parking is for people who are shopping in the town or carrying out business here and it should not be abused by those working in the town. Mark said that bringing in a private company would work very well, as it would ensure that the parking is constantly monitored.

“The MBA would be hoping to meet with whoever is involved, to give our views as business people, to let them know our concerns and what would be a fair and just way – we don’t want to sit back and let them come in here, without working with them,” he said.

VIGILANCE NEEDED

In terms of the litter warden also being absent from the town now, Mark said that people need to be more vigilant and actively try to combat litter. “If they see litter, they need to pick it up, instead of walking past it or worse on top of it – there are plenty of bins in the town, but people need to use them,” he said.