Sligo County Council are looking for members of the public to express their views on a proposed public realm enhancement scheme in Strandhill.
Strandhill Public Realm Enhancement
The proposed scheme involves altering the layout of the Shore Front to create a flexible civic space suitable for all kinds of public events where the pedestrian is prioritised and an appropriate level of car parking is retained to cater for blue badge holders, older people and those who have mobility issues.
Shore Front
The scheme proposes a genuine ‘Promenade’ walkway - wide enough for ‘sitters’, walkers and playing children to co-exist comfortably. Although the current footpath along the shore front is 3m wide, this gets reduced with parked cars overhanging the footpath and street furniture. If people are sitting on one of the benches enjoying the sea view, the space for a passing walker is reduced even further. In order to create more space for people, space must be taken from the road and car parking. The road is currently up to 11m wide along the Shore Front. This could be reduced to 5 and 6m so that more space is available for the pedestrian.
Shore Road
The scheme proposes reducing the width of Shore Road to 5m and widening the footpaths on both sides of the road. Currently, the journey from the main Council Car Park to the Shore Front is uncomfortable for pedestrians, in particular parents with buggies and small children or persons with mobility difficulties. The footpaths are extremely narrow making two people walking side by side difficult and pedestrians often walk out onto a busy road to let people pass.
Car parking
Development of this scheme will result in an increase in the total number of car parking spaces in this part of Strandhill. The scheme proposes a total of 365 car parking spaces (plus 6 motor bike spaces) between Shore Front and the main Council car park. 42 car parking spaces will remain in place on the Shore Front. These will be made up of 10 accessible spaces and a mix of age-friendly spaces, undefined spaces and short-stay spaces. The exact composition of these spaces will be determined at detailed design stage. The main council car park will have 323 car parking spaces including 17 accessible spaces as well as 6 motorbike spaces (which use the space of 3 parked cars). Two new loading bays on Shore Front outside Mammy Johnstons and Shells Café are proposed as part of this scheme. These bays are designed and located to facilitate deliveries to the local businesses on the Shore Front.
This project has been funded to date by the Rural Regeneration Development Fund (RRDF) administered by the Department of Rural and Community Development. The RRDF supports projects that have the potential to revitalise rural towns and villages and make them attractive areas in which to live, work and invest.
What happens next?
Submissions and observations from the public will be accepted until the 11 April 2025 (4pm) via https://consult.sligococo.ie/en/consultation/strandhill-public-realm-enhancement after which a Chief Executive’s report will be prepared and presented to the elected members. This report will incorporate a list of the persons or bodies that made submissions, along with a summary of the issues raised by them and the Chief Executive’s response. If the proposal is approved by the members of the Sligo County Council, the next step for this project is to apply to the Rural Regeneration Development Fund for funding to proceed to the next stage of the process. If funding is approved, this project progresses to the detailed design stage. During this stage there will be further public consultation with the general public and with the key stakeholders and residents of Strandhill.