Parking bid on hold over permits
ENFORCING two hours only parking in Ardee has been put on hold after it was found that residents don’t have permits and faced being fined for parking outside their own homes.
The plus and minus factors about pay parking were also discussed at the area council meeting in Castlebellingham last week, but no agreement was reached.
Willie Walsh from Louth CC said that in the 2014 bylaws, the rate was reduced to zero, allowing two hour parking in the same location.
However, there was no enforcement, no resident warden and no income.
‘I can commit to sending a warden for half a day a week on a random basis. The problem is that it’s two hour parking and there’s no provision for residents’ permits, so anyone living on the street would have to move move every two hours as they’d be subject to the warden. They will get a ticket for parking more than two hours.
‘ The warden can come over from Drogheda for an afternoon, but it is probably going to get complaints.’
Cllr Jim Tenanty said that he had met the Community Warden during a visit to the town and asked them to put a ticket on a car but was told they could only fine people for parking on a double yellow line, if they were blocking a gate or for no tax.
‘We did it before Christmas and we got complaints from residents,’ Mr Walsh stated. He said the wardens were then told to enforce certain national laws and leave others as they didn’t know how to handle the issues with residents and two-hour restrictions.
Cllr Tenanty said that at county level, local councillors were being asked why the area was not contributing towards the parking budget.
‘So, I said let’s discuss it. Some people are for pay parking, some are against. If you implement it, residents will be affected.’
Mr Walsh said that the bylaws can be changed by going through a public consultation. The area with two-hour parking could also be reduced, but he’d have to confirm that.
Cllr Dolores Minogue felt that people didn’t want pay parking.
‘If we bring in two hours, people who come into the town in the early morning will be penalised. It’s a balancing act to keep everyone happy.’
She suggested that lands at the front of St Joseph’s could be purchased for all day parking. ‘ This is about all the stakeholders, the council as well as Bus Eireann, the private buses, the NRA, all working together.’
Cllr Colm Markey suggested if residents did get tickets, they could be appealed. He felt the main street was the key to two-hour parking while a privately owned site close to the link road could be looked at for a park and ride. In Collon, the car park beside the parochial hall was an option.
A traffic management plan is something Cllr Tom Cunningham feels is needed, as does Cllr Pearse McGeough.
Willie Walsh said when there was pay parking in Ardee, it did contribute to the county. Now they were looking at losing out in income in Drogheda if the warden has to go to Ardee for half a day, when there’s no pay parking there.
His personal view was that it needed to be discussed at management level.
Cllr Minogue was against a warden coming in now, until the bylaws in respect of permits, was sorted out. Otherwise residents would get tickets every time.
Cllr Tenanty said alternatives were needed for people who come in to town to park, otherwise they’d go to the side streets and park all day. ‘I put forward three sites and they were all ignored by the council,’ he added.
‘If we are saying that the two-hour parking is not being enforced, we might as well take the signs down,’ Cllr Markey remarked.