WITH three businesses for sale on the Main Street and others relocating to out of town centre locations there have been calls for free parking.
At Monday night's Town Council meeting Councillor Jimmy Harte proposed that the local authority introduce one hour free parking on Main Street and Port Road to help businesses in the area. However, after discussion it was agreed to take a more detailed look at parking issues all over town.
Speaking at the meeting Councillor Harte said the Main Street "needed a lift".
"There needs to be an incentive for people to come along and shop in the area. You have people who might just want to nip in to the post office or the chemist and they have to pay for street parking," he said.
Agreeing Councillor Neil Clarke said long established businesses on the Main Street had "paid their debt to the town" and it was time now to give them something back at a challenging time.
"We should help in any way we can to rejuvenate the area. In the new retail parks the parking is free and here we are imposing a penalty on people to shop on the Main Street. We should try one hour free parking on a trial basis as a start and see how it goes as a positive measure to help businesses on the Main Street," he said.
Cllr Victor Fisher, a well known businessman on the Main Street, said something needed to be done for the Main Street and Port Road.
"You could have people stopping off to drop or collect something from the post office and they find themselves hit for a ¤40 fine. It isn't going to encourage them to come back. I think we need to look at free parking. Businesses on the Main Street have been ratepayers for a long time," he said.
"There is a car park a short distance away for 700 cars and maybe the council can work at this in some way as an option. There are three businesses for sale on the Main Street at the moment and this is not a good sign," Councillor Fisher added.
Cllr Dessie Larkin agreed there was an issue but felt the council should explore the possibility of having one hour free parking on Saturday and Sunday as a trial.
"I think this needs to be explored as part of a wider review of parking in the town and the idea of zoning areas for short, medium and long term stays is something I would like to hear more about. The parking issue is a very complex problem around the town and signage is vital," he said.
"I think we also have to look at the Cathedral Car Park and look at the possibility of introducing a maximum stay of three hours at this location. I'm not saying there should be charges at the Cathedral car park but we have to examine ways to help free up spaces," he added.
Cllr Damien Blake said free parking could be introduced at off peak times on a trial basis. It was agreed to carry out a full review of car parking around the town. This report will be prepared by the Town Engineer, Mr Michael McFadden for a future meeting.
