Taxi spaces in Kildare town ‘need to be solidified’

A Kildare County Councillor has claimed that taxi spaces in Kildare town 'need to be solidified.'

Sinn Féin Cllr Noel Connolly made the comments while speaking at the latest Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District meeting, which was held on Wednesday, January 17 last.

Fine Gael Cllr Paddy Curran motioned for Kildare County Council (KCC) to 'clearly identity a taxi rank with at least 3 spaces consisting of road markings (TAXI) and signage of same in Kildare town.'

In response, he was told by KCC: "There are no taxi rank spaces included in the current Kildare town parking bye-laws."

However, KCC added: "These can be considered in the context of the next review of the parking bye-laws."

Cllr Curran told KCC that while he welcomed the report, he also expressed concerns of illegal parking in the town as a result of the apparent ambiguity surrounding taxi spaces.

His motion was supported by Cllr Connolly, who made the comments about the need for the spaces to be solidified.

Cllr Connolly also asked KCC if the town’s bye-laws are due to be renewed soon.

The motion was put forward to Kildare County Council by Cllr Paddy Curran (LEFT, FINE GAEL) and the comments about the taxi spaces were made by Cllr Noel Connolly (RIGHT, SINN FÉIN).

KCC engineer Donal Hodgins told Cllr Connolly: "Countrywide, there is a backlog for parking bye-laws, and the oldest (request for examining the bye-laws) has to be taken first."

"A referral to the Transport Strategic Policy Committee may be needed," he added.

Social Democrats Cllr Chris Pender, who sits on the Sustainable Transport Committee (STC), told Mr Hodgins that he 'would be happy to raise the issue at the next STC meeting.'

Following this, it was decided that agreed by the members that the matter would be deferred to a later meeting.