Nocturnal clampers forces Laois apartment residents to park in Portlaoise estate

Nocturnal car clampers have resulted in dozens of residents of a Portlaoise apartment block parking in a neighbouring housing estate at night because the owner of the block is fining them for parking in the underground car park.

The residents living in the Parkside apartment complex on the Abbeyleix Road. The Celtic Tiger era mixed commercial and residential building is now owned by The Comer Group.

The developers recently hired clampers due to an ongoing dispute over service charges, which they say arises from conditions at the car park.  The lengthy dispute escalated in recent months when residents cars were clamped in the underground car park.

Up to 16 residents had their cars clamped in one night in the complex and were forced to pay €125 each to have clamps removed.

The residents say the clampers are operating at night time because shoppers use the car park during the day and might mistakenly be clamped. An estimated €7,000 has been paid out on clamping fines by residents and many are now parking in the nearby Cherrygarth estate. 

The Parkside residents say the Comer Group purchased the complex in 2017, some nine years after it was completed in 2008.  In 2022, an engineer examined the apartment car park and raised issues about water pooling, lighting and the general condition of the underground car park.

The Parkside Residents Committee say they are willing to pay reasonable service charges if the car park is improved. They shared a copy of the engineer’s report with the Leinster Express along with a statement in relation to the complex. 

“The car park is in this condition for a number of years and despite repeated requests from the residents who use the car park the owners have failed to take action to remedy the many serious issues listed in the report," said the statement. 

"Due to the very poor condition of the car park the residents have refused to pay a parking charge to date. They have however confirmed on numerous occasions that they are willing to consider a fair and reasonable charge for parking once they are provided with a car park that is safe and fit for purpose.  

“As a result of this stance by the residents the owners of the car park have commenced clamping the residents cars parked in the car park overnight,” they concluded.

The  Leinster Express/Laois Live contacted the Comer Group. The responded with the following statement issued on behalf of the Nyquist Property Company, a Comer Group Company which owns the building. 

“The main issues you have highlighted from the report in August 2022 arises from the lack of funding for the car park from the apartment owners. Each apartment is liable to contribute to the upkeep of the car park,” they said. 

“This position has been ongoing for the last six years, and we have been in discussions to agree payment plans with the management company and the residents representatives, as there are substantial arrears.  We have continually engaged with the Owners Management Company who advised that they were acting on behalf of all apartment owners. Despite several agreements, the residents have reneged on these agreements.

"We received the report you circulated today, in August 2022, and subsequently representatives from our property management department met on site with the Board of Directors of the Management Company.   Works were agreed and the residents were going to start paying their service charges. The works commenced however only a fraction of arrears was received from the residents.

"Over the last few weeks a number of residents have started paying their service charge arrears, on a one-to-one basis, which is a positive start to 2024 and we hope this will continue so improvements can continue on site,” the Nyquist Company stated.  

The company says the fees they are seeking equate to €5 per week per parking space. They say basement car parks are costly to run and funds are needed to provide services,  insurance, electricity, general maintenance repairs, drainage and fire protection services.

“Some residents hadn’t paid any service charge for ten years, however, every apartment owner legally signed up to pay these costs when they purchased their apartment,” they stated. 

Parkside is a Celtic Tiger era which suffered as a result of the property crash. It was built on land originally owned by the GAA by Laois developers but soon after the properties went on sale the crash hit. Most of the apartment sales were not completed while the commercial units were for the most part left unoccupied for years.

While the apartments eventually sold, some of the commercial elements of the building remain unoccupied.