Outoftown stores should charge for parking

OUT-of-town shopping centres should be forced to charge for their car parks. This is one of the suggestions on how to ensure the economic survival of Co Galway’s towns and villages. Another is to ban smaller commercial outlets from setting up alongside these larger multiples.
The suggestions came when members of Galway Co Council met in Tuam on Monday to debate the details of the new County Development Plan 2015-2021.
The survival of the county’s towns as viable commercial locations was raised and concern was expressed that the death knell for many town centres was the presence of an out-of-town shopping centre nearby.
One member proposed that the County Plan should include a stipulation that these outlets should be required to impose parking charges as it was felt that many shoppers kept away from traditional town centres because of the difficulty and cost of parking.