Parklets proposal to help Mayo businesses as they reopen

BUSINESSES are being urged to speak with council officials about using street space outside their premises as they reopen.

Mayo County Council's architects section are compiling a policy to assist with pedestrian movement in towns and to also help businesses in utilising public spaces.

A Westport-based councillor has suggested the use of parklets – where businesses could extend into a parking space outside with street furniture for customers - which have been developed in towns in the US and New Zealand.

Councillor Peter Flynn has identified parklets as a relatively simple and cost-effective way of assisting businesses in reopening, built from decking and easily dismantled again.

He said: “Using Westport as an example, I think we should be reducing our key streets to one lane of traffic from June to October and use the rest of the street for parklets, walking lanes and short-term set down areas.

“We should also be looking at better utilising areas like The Quay, the Octagon and some of our carparks for our business community and making them pedestrian friendly.

“In October we could reverse all at very little cost.”

He added: “The council have assigned some of the architects/engineers in each Municipal District to look at options in all our main towns and will be putting forward some thoughts next week. They are urging all business owners who would potentially like to use some public space outside their premises to contact their Municipal District with their ideas and proposals.

“Based on feedback the last few days it is clear that our towns have more cars than pedestrians in them and if we are to give our businesses a chance to survive in 2020 we need to have people back on our streets while observing social distancing guidelines.

“Streets without people are soulless and we need to create a vibrancy and atmosphere that will attract locals and visitors into our towns.”