Call for free parking in small towns falls flat

INTRODUCING free parking in small towns throughout Galway will do nothing to alleviate declining business, according to local traders. Galway East Senator Lorraine Higgins has appealed for Galway County Council to introduce free parking to encourage people to shop but traders believe this will do little to resurrect dwindling footfall levels in the likes of Tuam and Ballinasloe. [private] Senior council officials have also said that removing paid parking would only exacerbate parking problems in towns. Tuam Town Manager Frank Gilmore said that while the revenue generated by parking charges was a vital source of income for the council in terms of maintaining services in towns, financial concerns were not the main reason why free parking could not be introduced. 'The real issue here is about introducing a system that will ensure there is a constant turnover of parking in towns such as Tuam. 'If you introduced free parking the whole issue of traffic movement would become problematic as ­people would simply abuse the privilege of being able to park for nothing in the town centre. 'Parking charges help to manage traffic as they keep it moving and while the revenue is an important factor, in that it pays for the rent of lands associated with council car parks and the enforcement of parking, it is not the sole reason why this proposal cannot be accommodated.' However, Senator Higgins said a balance had to be struck between revenue generating measures and reigniting consumer confidence. 'At present an over-zealous approach to parking charges is a significant factor in discouraging the public from shopping in towns,' she said. 'Business in small towns would benefit greatly if local authorities adopted a friendlier and more pro-customer stance and make it more attractive for people to shop. 'Restrictive two-hour paid parking measures in small rural towns are entirely counter-productive when you take the example of Ballinasloe where a total of €325k was spent on parking costs and only €252k was collected last year.' However, the incoming vice president of Tuam Chamber of Commerce Bernard O'Brien has said free parking is not a viable solution. 'The council is right in that if you do introduce free parking all that will happen is people will abuse it and park there all day,' he said. 'Traders need to tackle this on their own, instead of waiting for the authorities to come up with a magic wand. To that effect, we're working on proposals to buy up to 200 parking spaces in the town from the council and each trader involved will then be able to offer their customers a designated parking space for free for a specific period. 'The traders have to put their hands in their pockets on this issue as we've lost so much business to towns such as Athenry, Claremorris and Galway in recent years and we need to woo these customers back, by whatever means possible.' [/private]