Call for free parking to attract people into Tuam town centre

By jacqueline HOGGE CALLS for free parking in Tuam town centre were met with a lukewarm response by officials from Galway County Council when they were raised at a meeting in the town this week. Cllr Larry Bane raised the issue at this week's Joint Policing Committee meeting where he said local businesses needed help to attract people into the town centre.[private] Senator Lorraine Higgins, who was attending her first JPC meeting in Tuam, said the issue was a hot topic throughout the county. 'Traders in Ballinalsoe are proposing a half hour to an hour's free parking in the town centre to counteract the effect the arrival of Tesco on the outskirts of the town has had where it has sucked the life out of the town centre.' Cllr Imelda Kelly agreed that limited free parking would be an incentive to attract people into Tuam. 'I think unlimited free parking would be abused but if it was restricted to a half hour or even an hour it would keep people moving and ensure a steady stream of people accessing the town throughout the day.' Deputy Mayor Eamon Kitt suggested free parking be limited to weekends as the current system, whereby ­people could park for as little as 20 cent, worked well. 'I use the minimum parking charge all the time and it works very well when you just need to pop into a shop or a chemist or whatever. 'You don't have that option in the likes of Galway and I don't see how the wardens would be able to monitor free parking on a daily basis. If it was restricted to Saturdays, it would mean the Council would still get revenue during the week.' However Senator Higgins pointed out that people parking their cars in the town centre on a Friday night would be liable to abuse free parking if it only applied on a Saturday by leaving their cars there. She also suggested it was time to look outside the box to come up with a solution to the parking issue and other scenarios such as businesses being able to purchase tickets at concessionary rates should be considered. Cllr Paul O'Grady said the more pertinent issue was providing more car park spaces in the town and called on the religious to open up secondary school facilities during the summer months. 'We have how many spaces down at the Grove that are locked up while the likes of the Mercy Secondary School which is town centre is also a prime location for public parking during the summer months,' he said. 'Part time wardens could monitor these areas and it's incumbent on our Town Manger to initiate negotiations to allow this to happen. The Grove is public property and it's been lying idle for far too long. They begrudgingly gave over a small space to the Courthouse and even though they've planning permission got for an ambulance base, there's no money to build it. I don't think a free parking system would work as it would be abused, we need to provide more parking spaces to solve this issue.' However, Cllr Sally Ann Flanagan argued that it was people's 'disgraceful' parking habits that caused the majority of problems. 'People pull up and park wherever they like and it's causing huge problems throughout the town. 'The loading bays are regularly full of private cars and it's not fair on the delivery vans and trucks trying to do their work, or indeed on the businesses waiting on such deliveries. Dublin Road is a disgrace daily with people parking on both sides of the road, despite double yellow lines in place, and I agree the lack of spaces is an issue that needs to be addressed.' Town Manager Frank Gilmore rejected the notion of free parking as he said it would be deny the council of vital revenue at a time when services were already being cut due to lack of funding. 'We are at the pin of our collar to maintain services as it is,' he said. 'Traffic income is down throughout the county and the issue of parking is not unique to Tuam, it's a problem in other towns too. 'It would be totally impractical to issue free parking but if a request is made for us to revise parking charges, or extending the minimum time period applicable, we can certainly look at doing that. 'It is not my decision to make on whether or not to introduce free parking and if it is something you wish to pursue, it needs to be raised with members of Galway County Council, who ultimately will decide.'[/private]