This article is from page 14 of the 2012-06-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
A NIGHT-TIME taxi rank could be put in place at the Abbey Street carpark under new proposals put forward by Ennis Town Council.
Council officials met gardaí and members of the Ennis Taxi Federation in April after taxi drivers outlined a number of concerns and proposals about taxi services in Ennis.
A new night-time taxi rank has been proposed for the Abbey Street car park, which would operate between 8pm and 7am.
The proposed layout was presented at last month’s meeting of Ennis Town Council.
According to the report, the rank could run alongside the roadway close to the river Fergus and would not interfere with parking spaces. “The edges of this road could be painted with a blue line and signs erected advising the public of the night-time rank.”
Town Clerk Leonard Cleary told the meeting that a technical assessment would first have to be carried out at the site.
He said the extra taxi rank had been requested to cope with the outflow of people from nightclubs at the weekends.
He said the cost and the potential loss of revenue from lost parking spaces would also have to be considered.
Mr Cleary said further consultations would take place with taxi drivers groups and gardaí before any decision is taken.
Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind) said drivers rated the existing rank in the Parnell Street car park as one of the best in the country.
He said it is important that people can get off the streets as quickly and safely as possible during busy peri ods.
Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) suggested that a rank could be set up in an area of the car park close to Dan O’Connell’s pub.
Meanwhile, councillors in Ennis meet today to rubberstamp the adoption of a new coach-parking plan for the town.
In recent weeks, Ennis Town Council has extended the coach parking facilities available in the Friar’s Walk car park, providing two additional bays for large coaches and one additional bay for a smaller coach. The council has also been looking at a more long-term arrangement to create a first class coach parking facility in the town so as to attract additional coach business to the town.