Reduction sought in parking charges in this town in Tipperary
Parking by-laws throughout the county are under review
Motorists in Clonmel are looking for a reduction in parking charges and a portion of free parking during the day, the town’s first citizen has stated.
The Mayor, Pat English, told a meeting of Clonmel Borough District that he hoped something positive would come from the review of parking by-laws throughout the county that’s currently being undertaken by Tipperary County Council.
Cllr English also requested that the Borough District would replace or recalibrate the parking ticket machines in Clonmel.
A number of the machines were very old and no longer working properly, he said. If the machines were being replaced they should be able to accept credit or debit card payments.
He was pleased to hear the report to the meeting by District Engineer Gillian Flynn, which stated that the maintenance contractor for the pay and display machines is carrying out a full survey on all the machines.
The contractor would ensure that all the machines are recalibrated and in full working order.
Cllr Richie Molloy said that the town of Cahir had two hours of free parking during the day. He said that half an hour of free parking in the Mary Street car park in Clonmel was “very tight”.
A huge volume of parents dropped their children off at school in the morning, and if they had an hour or two of free parking at that time it would encourage people to stay in the town.
In any event, he didn’t know how much revenue was generated from on-street parking between 9 and 11am. Cllr Molloy said that card payments for parking was the way forward.
Cllr Siobhán Ambrose said there were anomalies in parking charges throughout the county, and they waited with bated breath to see what proposals would be made.
She said that the parking machines in Waterford could accept card payments.
Cllr Tom Acheson asked why there should be different parking by-laws for different towns in the county.
District Administrator Carol Creighton said that only the machines in the Mary Street car park in Clonmel could accept card payments.
Council engineer James Murray said there had been quite a bit of work done, and there was still quite a bit of work to do on their proposals to harmonise parking charges in the county.
The council’s review was very comprehensive, and was examining the by-laws across the nine towns in the county.