Windmill residents bide their time
THE long-running saga of residentsparking on one side of the Windmill Road will be brought back to the drawing board now, following the decision to make parking in Drogheda €1.10 an hour in line with Dundalk.
The motion to introduce residents parking for the beleaguered owners of cars in the street was combined with the request to reduce the parking charge, therefore it must now return to public consultation phase.
The decision at the Budget meeting was dealt with as a single by-law, so the matter of residents-only parking must be brought back to the members.
“The legal advice is in relation to the residents-only aspect, so it is necessary to put it on public display,” members were told.
“It must be identified as a scheme, so there is no option, it must contain a public consultation phase.”
Having waited for years to try and get the situation sorted, residents of the Windmill Road now feel there is light at the end of the tunnel.
‘It is a lot more encouraging for us,’ local resident Caroline Gormley remarked.
She has been at the forefront of the campaign that has brought their fight to the end game stage.
‘Chief Executive Joan Martin has been a great help. She went through the legal end of things and now with the hospital reducing charges, we feel this can happen,’ Caroline remarked.
The residents have been ‘ trapped’ in their homes for years, unable to park in the vicinity of their houses and the likes of deliveries of oil needing military style precision in case the road is blocked. It is a main route into the hospital for ambulances and some have been delayed in the past due to the volume of parking.
Anneville Crescent has also suffered with illegal parking.
‘We feel the residents only parking will happen and we’ll now be talking to councillors to try and get it sorted out.’