KILDARE: No expansion yet for Naas Farmers Market
Moves to expand the Naas Farmers Market - which takes place on Saturdays (10am-3pm) at the Potato Market site, beside the Presbyterian Church - have run aground.
The move was initiated by Cllr Evie Sammon who asked that the Kildare County Council suspend the byelaws for June, July and August to allow trading in
Nearby Market Square on Saturdays.
However according to KCC there are currently no casual trading bye-laws for Naas that would permit casual trading at Market Square and “until the market out-grows its current location in the Potato Market, it would be premature to expand into Market Square.”
Cllr Sammon told a Naas Municipal District meeting that stallholders are interested in this and she suggested that it could be facilitated by the temporary closure of Church Lane, which connects Market Square with Corban’s Lane.
Cllr Bill Clear said that the market is a strong addition to the town.
And he suggested that if the parking spaces outside the church were used by stall holders this would create a strong visual impact for the 25,000 drivers passing through Naas each day.
A report by KCC official Eoghan Ryan noted that an expansion would “require clarity in respect of the exact location of the parking bays to be (used), the number of parking bays to be (used) and the dates and times of the required use.”
KCC will recommend that the taxi stand in the area is not suspended and agrees that the five parking bays at the church should be considered for any additional spaces.