KCC told that new car parking spaces would help small businesses in Newbridge

Two local councillors expressed concerns in relation to the proposal

By Ciarán Mather Published 16th Jul 2026, 13:00 BST Kildare County Council told that new car parking spaces would help small businesses in Newbridge | FILE PHOTOGRAPH / PIXABAY Two local councillors expressed concerns in relation to the proposal Sign up to our Kildare Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Kildare Live within your account.

Kildare County Council (KCC) was told by a local representative that the provision of new car parking spaces would assist small businesses located on one Newbridge street.

Independent councillor Tom McDonnell expressed his view at the latest Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District (MD) meeting, which took place on Wednesday, July 15 last.

READ NEXT: Call goes out to support Kildare cancer fundraising event

Around the midpoint of the meeting, Cllr McDonnell motioned for KCC to ‘remove some green area in College Park, Newbridge, to create car park spaces to help small businesses on Eyre Street’.

Cllr McDonnell’s motion was seconded by the newly-elected Mayor of the MD, Fianna Fáil Cllr Suzanne Doyle.

Independent Cllr Tom McDonnell | PHOTOGRAPH CREDIT: KILDARECOCO.IE However, in response to the motion, KCC said via the report it presented at the meeting: “The MD does not have the resources to construct additional parking spaces at this location.”

KCC added that the reallocation of open space for parking ‘is only considered in exceptional circumstances, and is not the preferred option’.

READ NEXT: Five days of road works planned for this Kildare region

Speaking further on his motion, Cllr McDonnell claimed that businesses on Eyre Street ‘are really, really suffering’ due to the lack of available car parking spaces.

He also asked KCC if the matter could be included on the upcoming Newbridge Town Plan.

Once he concluded speaking, Social Democrats Cllr Chris Pender told KCC that he wished to object to Cllr McDonnell’s suggestion.

Explaining his view, Cllr Pender said: “The green space is one of the few spaces in the town centre; taking away that space would make no sense.”

Cllr Pender further said that children who live nearby ‘play there regularly’.

In addition, he pointed out that other sites have been identified for car parking spaces in the region.

Another councillor who expressed concerns over Cllr McDonnell’s proposal was Fianna Fáil Cllr Rob Power, who said: “We shouldn’t be making decisions [like this] on MD level.”

“Let’s look at it as a whole [at county-wide level]; we have to consider all opportunies here,” he added.

This prompted Cllr McDonnell to re-enter the conversation, during which he clarified: “My idea isn’t to take away all of the green space, only some of it.”

Following this, KCC official Mark McLoughlin, who was also in attendance at the meeting, told Cllr McDonnell that KCC can ‘certainly look at the turnover’ of traffic on Eyre Street in order to inform its answer to the situation.

READ NEXT: Kildare crowned All-Ireland U16 'A' champions with thrilling win over Cavan