An extra twenty car park spaces at Portarlington Leisure Centre will cost an estimated €33,000.
The works will be carried out subject to the necessary funding being provided, acting area engineer John Ormond told the Graiguecullen/Portarlington Municipal District meeting today (Wednesday).
Cllr Tom Mulhall had a motion before the meeting seeking the extra spaces. Cllr Aidan Mullins also sought extra spaces and extra public lighting there.
Cllr Mulhall said they had met with the centre manager on site in recent weeks. “It is a good problem to have. It goes to show how busy the centre is and the volume of traffic there,” he said.
On the funding issue he said, “I hope it is do-able”.
“It is down to the success of the Leisure Centre and its facilities including the astro turf and the community creche and now additional employees in the office ,” Cllr Mullins said.
“I thought we might have been able to get more,” he said of the amount of spaces that are to be provided.
“There are additional spaces in the adjacent car park but it is not well-lit,” he said.
“We could get an extra 40 spaces if it was lit,” he said.
“There is no public lighting at the back of the centre on the access road. I think the onus is on the council to step up here and no leave it to the councillor’s discretionary funding. We can’t do it piecemeal,” he said.
Broken into
“Cars parked there have been broken into under the cover of darkness,” he said.
Mr Ormond said if they can mount public lights on the building itself, then this would be much more cost effective than erecting poles.
A lot of children are in and out of the centre, and an additional speed ramp or raised table is also required, he said.
