District wants funds from two car parks
WICKLOW Municipal District has a General Municipal Allocation (GMA) of €44,000 for 2020.
The break down includes €6,000 for Town Twinning, €11,000 for Tidy Towns , €25,000 for festivals and concerts and €2,000 for local representatives, civic leadership and other expenses.
The GMA for Wicklow Municipal District last year was €38,000. €4,000 of that additional money comes from the roundabout sponsorship scheme taking place at the roundabouts at Merrymeeting and Broomhall.
‘The scheme has worked well and we would be hoping by the end of the year, or by early next year, to get other roundabouts involved. Arklow have rolled out the scheme for the last few years and it has worked well there. We will be trying to improve our income over the next few years by including further roundabouts,’ said District Manager, Brian Gleeson.
Cllr Shay Cullen felt it was unfair that parking fees for Brittas Bay and Glendalough both went to the environmental section of Wicklow County Council rather than Wicklow Municipal District.
‘The parking in Glendalough and Brittas Bay doesn’t show in our District allocation. The fact that both tourist attractions are in our district means the money should go to us. There is also a reluctance to let us know how much is coming in from those car parks and what the expenditure is.’
Cllr Irene Winters agreed with Cllr Cullen’s sentiments.
‘We have spent money improving Glendalough and Laragh with lighting and footpath works, to make it a better experience for visitors, yet we get none of the resources back. The Environment Section aren’t putting money back into lighting, footpaths and roads.’
Cllr Mary Kavanagh said: ‘A large chunk of our funding goes to the Glendalough and Laragh area. The more we give, the less we have to spread to other smaller projects, so other areas lose out, including Wicklow town. We should at least have a share of some of the car park money.’
Cllr Gail Dunne stressed he didn’t want any increase in parking fees in Wicklow town introduced to provide the district with more funding to spend.
‘The Town Team would like us to decrease our parking costs. We need to attract more people to the town so if there were any future plans to increase parking costs, then I would be against them.’
The other GMA allocations for the county see Arklow receive €61,000, Bray receive €73.500. Greystones receive €38,000 and Baltinglass €26,000.