Free parking plan comes off the rails

Any attempts to provide a period of free parking in the county’s towns in an effort to boost trade have been scuppered after members of Galway County Council failed to reach agreement on the matter.

A two hour debate often bordered on the bizarre as several different councillors wanted different free parking arrangements to be put in place on a trial basis but in the end it was agreed that the status quo remains.

It has come up at several meetings of Galway County Council over the past year with demands that a period of free town centre parking be provided for shoppers in an effort to boost business for the local traders.

But there was a major disagreement on when the period of free parking should apply. Some councillors wanted it between 9am and 10am in the morning while others were in favour of an hour long period of free parking that could be taken at any time during the day – however, this was said to be very difficult to police.

Council officials had warned that any period of free parking would be costly and the revenue would have to come out of the roads budget – this sent ‘the wind up’ several councillors who wanted the roads budget maintained.

A committee was established to come back with a recommendation and Cllr Mogie Maher from Loughrea came back with four possible options – one hour in the morning, two free hours in the morning, a floating one hour period and a floating two hour period.

The latter two hour floating free parking period would cost the Council almost 435,000 in lost revenue and that this would be stripped from the roads budget.

Cllr Maher proposed that a one hour morning free parking period be applied on a trial basis for six months and that the situation be reviewed after that.

It resulted in heated exchanges between councillors with Cllr Maher’s Fine Gael colleague Cllr Michael Finnerty producing a picture of a street in Ballinasloe one morning and it showed that there were no cars around.

Cllr Finnerty said that the paid parking were boosting the edge of town big retailers who provided free car parks while the main ratepayers were struggling. “Our county towns are dying and we are doing nothing to address the situation.

There was then controversy when it was revealed that Clifden’s parking charges do not apply until 11am in the morning. Cllr Eileen Mannion said that this had been the case since parking charges in the town applied and it was passed by members of Galway County Council.

This prompted Cllr Donagh Killilea to propose a two hour period of free parking which, he said, would mean that there would be consistency between all of the towns in the county.

But Fianna Fail’s Cllr Malachy Noone wanted each of the five Municipal Councils in the county to rule on their own parking fees and arrangements. He was told by Chief Executive Kevin Kelly that any free parking arrangements had to be passed at a full Council meeting. This sparked a further row.

In the end Cllr Mogie Maher withdrew his original proposal of one hour free parking and instead proposed that the current situation remain the same. This was agreed on a vote of 21 for and nine against.

The traditional free parking arrangements in the run up to Christmas will remain.