Council in favour of pedestrianising Mullingar

Mullingar Town Council have said they are in favour of pedestrianising Mullingar, or at least parts of it, with Mount Street being the most obvious street to start with.The debate was opened by Cllr. Peter Burke at last week's meeting of Mullingar Town Council, who said that pedestrianisation would create a good shopping atmosphere within the town, bring more people onto the streets and in general, make Mullingar busier.In a written reply, Mullingar Town Council said it was a main objective of theirs:"It is an objective of the Mullingar Town Council Development Plan to examine the potential and implementation of pedestrianisation of some of the main shopping streets in Mullingar Town Centre," stated the Council."This will involve broad consultation with all stakeholders including business, shoppers, residents, Chamber of Commerce, Gardaí and other groups," it said."The Council's Planning and Transportation Sections will prepare a scoping document to allow this process to commence."Cllr. Burke said he welcomed the Council's response, adding that it was important to be proactive:"We need the town to flourish and I think pedestrianisation is the key," he stated. Delighted to see that pedestrianisation was a possibility, he said he didn't think it was something to be feared, and suggested testing it out on a pilot basis first.Cllr. Mick Dollard agreed with Peter Burke and said it was important to do some forward planning on the issue:"A place like Mount Street is crying out for pedestrianisation," he said.Cllr. Aidan Davitt said there was an appetite from retail businesses across Mullingar for the pedestrianisation the town:"I certainly think it would be proactive and beneficial to the town," he said.Cllrs. Ken Glynn and Ruth Illingworth also showed their support for the call:"I think we got a glimpse on the Discover Mullingar Day of what a pedestrianised main street looks like," said Cllr. Illingworth, who also pointed out that there were issues to be looked at, such as whether pedestrianisation should take place 24 hours a day, or just during business hours.