Nenagh MD councillor believes the doubling of fines for parking on paths is wrong strategy

Director of Services Marcus O'Connor told the November meeting of Nenagh Municipal District that the fine for parking on footpaths has been doubled in recent weeks.

Cllr Seamus Morris said people parking on paths was making them deteriorate faster and was blocking the passage of buggies and wheelchairs. “But there are a number of streets in the Municipal District where the residents have to park on the paths. On Birr Road Nenagh about 20 cars are parked on the path. They are parked there for safety reasons. Because if they were parked on the road they would make the road dangerously and annoyingly narrow. I think raising the fine is not the right approach. We need to revisit this and permit parking on some paths.”

The Director of Services disagreed with the councillor. “When people park on footpaths it means that people can't use them, people with buggies or in wheelchairs. It forces them out onto the road, creating a dangerous situation. It is against the law of the land to park on paths. The government recently decided to double the fine to 80 Euros.

“Parking on the paths also damages them quicker. We have invested millions of Euro, through the Active Travel Scheme, in upgrading and building paths throughout the county. We want to protect them.”