Shockatvote againstparking reduction

IN a shock move, the majority of council members for Drogheda voted against the reduction of pay parking in Drogheda, which will now remain at €1.20 per hour.

Five councillors voted against Louth County Council’s decision to equalise Drogheda and Dundalk’s parking at €1.10 - voicing displeasure that their plan to reduce it to €1 wasn’t adopted – which leaves the charge returning to €1.20.

Drogheda also lost free parking in Mell and the Donore Road over the initial bid to get the parking rate reduced.

This will also mean an extra €100,000 will be shared with the rest of Louth.

Cllrs Kevin Callan, Frank Godfrey, Joanna Byrne, David Saurin and Kenneth Flood all voted against adopting the motion, with Cllrs Richie Culhane, Pio Smith and Oliver Tully voting to adopt the motion.

Cllr Tommy Byrne was absent due to illness.

“Some of us are shocked at this result, as are the council officials, because some members, led by Cllr Callan, sought equalisation with Dundalk, and when they got it, turned it down,” Cllr Smith told the Drogheda Independent.

“It is very annoying and frustrating, and now we are left worse off, as our rate is now still higher than Dundalk and we have lost our free parking.”

Cllr Smith had originally proposed that if the rate was reduced to €1, and then raised once more to €1.20, that extra €250,000 could be ring-fenced for Drogheda.

Now with Drogheda’s rate being higher than Dundalk, the extra 10c – which equates to around €100,000 - will go to the county coffers, something Cllrs Smith and Paul Bell will now seek to rectify.

“Frankly I don’t understand the thinking behind those who voted against the reduction, as they have now handed money, that could have been ours to spend in Drogheda, to Louth County Council,” he said angrily.

“It is staggering that those who championed this cause, have now lost us free parking for the local workers, and have left us with higher parking rates than Dundalk, still voted against this. I am very disappointed, and all that Cllr Smith and I can do is seek that extra money to be ringfenced for Drogheda in the February meeting.”

However, Cllr Kevin Callan, whose intial motion to get the parking rate reduced to €1 in line with Dundalk, rigorously defends the decision to vote no.

“This matter is not at an end and will now have to be brought back to Louth County Council by the officials,” he told the Drogheda Independent.

“When Drogheda members voted to have the rate decreased to €1, we received assurances from the CEO Joan Martin that it would happen, and then when it went to county level, it was over-ruled, and this is not acceptable.”

Asked whether he fought for equalisation with Dundalk and then rejected it when he got it, he said ‘absolutely not’.

“The members voted to pay the same as Dundalk when it was €1, so we would not be equal,” he said.

“We cannot be put in a position where we have achieved a result for it then to be changed at county level. It was a smart move, and I can’t accept that.”

The Independent councillor said the playing field is not level between the borough members of Drogheda and at county level, and, he for one, didn’t have the confidence that Ms Martin would keep her promises.

“If we had got the €1 rate as promised last September, none of this would have happened,” he said.

“If she had done what she said, I would have definitely supported the motion to ringfence money for Drogheda, but she changed the rules in the middle of the game, and we were left to vote on two motions together, which was not fair.

“The members in Drogheda were usurped, and I can assure you the matter is not at an end.”