It has just been announced that the Cork City Council are withdrawing permission for the weekly 5km parkrun at the Tramore Valley Park in Cork City.
From the parkrun organisers..... Unfortunately we have been informed by Cork City Council that they are withdrawing permission for Parkrun to take place at Tramore Valley next Saturday, January 30th due to the difficulties arising from increased traffic volumes and associated parking issues last Saturday.
Last weekend we had a record of 520 runners completing the two lap course, up from 339 the previous week. There is only room for 240 carparking spaces at Tramore Valley and while the Black Ash Park and Ride is just across the road, there is no pedestrian crossing connecting the two.The numbers taking part have risen exponentially and with the OT promotion of Parkrun there were fears that even larger numbers would be converging over the next few weeks.
The volunteers are gutted and very disappointed with the announcement as Tramore Valley Park has been a World Leader for parkrun registrations over the last few weeks and have almost 3000 registered runners. While permission has been withdrawn Cork city council have left the door open to a review at an early stage when plans at how to make the event safe to take place can be implemented.
Obviously this isn't good news for the regular attendees at the weekly parkrun. Since it started at the end of September 2015, it has attracted 1410 people.
As the map shows below, there are 940 parking spaces in the Black Ash Park & Ride facility which is only across the road from the entrance to the Tramore Valley Park. At 9:30am on a Saturday morning, the place is practically empty yet there is no public access from there to the Tramore Valley Park at the other side of the South Ring Road.
Obviously the extra publicity from the ongoing Operation Transformation programme pushed the numbers to records level but the question has to be asked of the City Council.......What's the point of having a public park if people can't use it? If they can't handle 500 runners then how can they can't hold any sort of public event there.
We'll have to wait and see if a solution is found.
Additional info...
1) Press release from the Cork City Council...28th Jan 2016
"Park Run Cancelled due to Popularity"
ReplyDeleteIt's almost a Waterford Whispers News story.
What a disappointment....surely in this day and age when obesity is such a problem and with the promotion of healthy living so prominent the council should surely find a way to accommodate such a healthy start to the weekend...These park runs are benefitting so many people both mentally and physically....don't forget this is an election year so let's see who will help to get this sorted!
ReplyDeleteShambolic to say the least ... Such poor planning. I was there two weeks ago and it took almost 40 minutes to exit after the park run. Traffic lights changing very quickly at the exit onto the south link. Should be at least 2 other entrance/Exit or walkways to the park. In a great spot. Be a shame if it cannot be utilised...
ReplyDeleteIs this from a Father Ted Episode? Event has taken off with huge success so "we will cancel it"��Unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteHow about walking to the event?
ReplyDeleteOr public transport?
A complete disgrace! People can park their cars around half moon lane and south douglas road and walk to event. Another great move by the city council instead of coming up with a solution and plan the event. A Garda pointsman would clear 240 cars in a few minutes. Maybe move the event out to CIT. Plenty of parking out there on a Saturday morning.
ReplyDeleteProud of you Cork city council.How about moving the Cork city marathon to the Tuesday of the long weekend altogether and maybe we can do it in old potato sacks as we're at it.For shame CCC sort it out,this was flagged from the get-go.
ReplyDeleteNew race rule: Any car that arrives with only 1 person on board (i.e. just the driver) gets turned away.
ReplyDelete240 car spaces with 2 persons per car = 480, +People arrive on foot = 20 or more =500+ people. I know it puts the onus on the organisers to police the entrance, but most people will obey a rule when it is a necessity.
There are many good reasons why people can’t car pool, but if you have to drive on your own, park on south Douglas road or environs & walk in via Half Moon lane. I’d prefer to car pool than miss the race.
Also encourage all people from the city center or nearby to walk to the event.
Surely a better solution than cancelling the race.
Christ King girls secondary school down half moon lane has a big car park, obviously the car park is closed at weekends. If we could get permission to have it opened for the parkrun ?
ReplyDeleteSimply solution here guys put a extra park and ride bus on for 2 hours on Sat morning and bus the runners over from Black Ash car park,its a 4 min ride. health and safety sorted .
ReplyDeleteJohn
Lets hope they get it sorted sooner rather than later. It would be a shame if the park run was cancelled totally , typical planning muck up . Surely there is somebody with a brain in the planning traffic section that can come up with a solution. And yes surely the park and ride option could be looked at. shuttle bus for 2 hours and people brought back to the carpark safe and sound.
ReplyDeleteThis really sums up the poor planning that's gone into that park from day one. It was supposed to be opened over two years ago and now it can't accommodate 500 people. Disgraceful carry on by CCC.
ReplyDelete2016 and people still can't see the economic benefit of having a healthy society. A park that no one can get to!. Move it to the regional park in ballincollig. Use lidl car park.
ReplyDeleteConnecting the parknride to the park should now be prioritised over building a bridge over N40 to Grange
ReplyDeleteOpening the Douglas entrance would encourage more to jog cycle to event
Unbelievable. What a complete waste of tax payers money - Cork Corporation ! A puddle near the tunnel causes city wide gridlock for 10 hours and its no one's fault. Great idea from someone above - let the Corporation's Cork Sports Partnership fund a bus from the Black Ash across to the park for a couple of hours. What about the access that was supposed to be developed from Grange. How's about looking at using some of Nemo's large car park that is empty that time of the morning ? As other posters mentioned - like something from Fr Ted - closed due to popularity !!
ReplyDeleteHow pathetic!This is supposed to be an amenity for the people of Cork but not too many evidently!(Its supposed to be able to cater for 'large outdoor concerts')
ReplyDeleteInteresting to note (from the Press Release) that CCC propose to do nothing.How pro-active on their part.However the Park run organisers need to 'cap participants'control numbers'.
Hope this gets widespread media attention.
What about putting on your gear on a Saturday morning and doing 5KM from your back door? Same distance and less fuss. Having 500 walking/jogging/running buddies seems more of a nuisance that a help to me.
ReplyDeleteWhat department in CCC is responsible for this decision?
ReplyDeleteSurely we'd be better directing these constructive suggestions above to them as opposed to John D?
There seems to be a number of very viable options:
1. Car park in Christ King girls secondary school - open this between 9 and 11.
2. Shuttle bus from Park and ride
3. Garda on point duty allowing pedestrians cross from Park and Ride, and also traffic flow out of Tramore Valley Park.
Its ALMOST comical. Lets build a park and car park, but once its busy (500 + people, not 5,000), we will shut it down.
There is a HUGE car park about 100m away. Cant use this as its too dangerous to allow people to cross a road!!??
Maybe Franz Kafka has taken possession of the Cork City Council.
Who know?
Another thought - what about a "walking bus" from the park and ride.
ReplyDeleteLet people park at the park and ride and have a group walk from the park and ride at say 9:15. It shodl be easy to manage to get a large bulk of people across the road in one block. Similarly, a walking bus from the park to the PnR afterwards at say 10:00, 10:15.
This combined with the onsite parking should be able to cope with the number easily.
Way too much common sense and problem solving going on in the comments. No need for it lads, no need.
ReplyDeleteI and probably everyone on here would be prepared to pay a couple of euros (shuttle bus from somewhere ) if it meant there was a race on every weekend . This was the attraction of this event , that it would be there for everyone every weekend of the year . Councillors would get a lot of positive publicity if they sorted this out , surely worth their yearly wage and career prospects ?
ReplyDeleteLimit numbers to 240 or less . Online entry . Print off your ticket and bring it . The race is not going to attract much more than this number year round anyway - just the January diet craze .
ReplyDeleteHow very Irish this is!!
ReplyDeleteI hate to be negative about this but what other attitude can one take?
There is a lot of discourse about the huge rise of obesity in this country. Clearly communities are endeavouring to tackle this issue by getting out in big numbers. The only way we can tackle this is by a widespread attitude change. The success of the Park Run is a true indicator that people are serious about getting more active. Its no wonder people lose faith when the authorities cant back up their bluster with real action and planning.
Is it really that difficult to organise a shuttle bus across the road from the Park and Ride, for Gods sake its a PARK AND RIDE !!! How is there no access from the south douglas road side?
I agree with the comentator above, this deserves more publicity.
I did ring PJ Coogan about it and was on air. I think it will be unforgiveable if its not back up the following weekend
ReplyDeleteThere needs to be more runs in the county. I'm in wexford but from cork, there's a few in the county to choose from but if your in mallow your only option is cork city. More runs will divide the crowd.
ReplyDeleteIm not surprised but I am embarrassed, the park was supposed to be used and that's why the venue was chosen and because it is too popular lol it is being cancelled. cork city council get your head out of your ass and see the fact that people want to use the amenity you created and maybe provide mini buses from another car park to the start line. for god sake this is ridiculous!
ReplyDelete