15-MINUTE GRACE PERIOD FOR PARKING AS NEW BYLAWS INTRODUCED

MOTORISTS will have a 15-minute grace period when they park up across Wicklow after the new parking bylaws were agreed.

Over the past few months the five municipal districts across the county had discussed the bylaws for each individual district and last week the proposed new regulations came before the council as a whole for discussion.

It had been proposed to introduce a ten-minute grace period, but a number of councillors felt this was inadequate.

Cllr Joe Behan said that a longer grace period would be an incentive for people to stay and shop in the towns. He also said that the grace period should be marked on the parking metres.

He also suggested that the council should ‘experiment a bit more with free parking on a Saturday’.

He said that he also hoped that the staff of Bray Municipal District would continue to enforce parking bylaws in the town and said he hoped that this policy could be re-introduced around the county.

Cllr Behan also said that he wanted ‘an absolute assurance that there is no question of any clamping in any council owned car park’. Cllr Derek Mitchell said that he was happy with the contractors that were operating in Greystones saying he said it might be difficult to enforce parking bye laws in an area that you lived in.

Cllr Shay Cullen welcomed that the Murrough car park will now have a reduced daily parking fee of 50 cent. Cllr Sylvester Bourke said he had hoped that the grace period be in the region of two hours but said the idea had been vetoed because of budgetary concerns. The members heard that there was no provision in the council bye-laws for clamping in council car parks. Director of services Seán Quirke said the grace period, which had been unofficially in place in some areas, would now be advertised on the parking metres. CEO of Wicklow County Council Bryan Doyle was also critical of the fact that the members in Greystones hadn’t introduced parking charges for the park and ride in Greystones.

Cllr Nicola Lawless said that charges at the park and ride would cost commuters an extra €500 a year.

The members agreed on the 15-minute grace period. The charging period will start at 10 a.m. and end at 6 p.m. for Greystones, Wicklow, Arklow with Bray starting at 9 a.m.