Radical plan to overhaul parking

Business leaders are proposing a complete overhaul of parking in Galway City – including a ‘park by text’ service, customer discounts and free on-street parking in the morning.

The proposals are to be drawn up in consultation with Galway Chamber and the Galway City Business Association, and then presented to the Council’s Director of Services for Transport, Ciarán Hayes.

City councillor Niall McNelis told the Galway City Tribune that unless the private sector pulls together with the Council, the city will continue losing shoppers to other towns and cities.

“I am sick of hearing people saying that they won’t come into town because of the cost of parking, that it’s easier to go to Athlone. People are worried that they’ll get a ticket, or clamped [on private property] or that they’re going to have to pay for the extra hour if they run over an hour by a minute.

“We need a dramatic change, and that will require the private sector coming on board, because parking in the private city centre carparks is very expensive.

“We need to draw up a series of measures, and that should include looking at a ‘Park by Text’ system similar to that in Dublin, where people can top up their parking disc by phone. That means they don’t have to go looking for loose change, and don’t need to worry about running back to ‘feed the meter’.

“The Council needs to give something back to the people – we are looking for free parking in November and January, the quiet periods, between 10am and midday each day.

“It will be up to the Chamber to get private operators on board, and it’s in their best interest, as it will attract more shoppers into the city centre,” he said.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.