Galway Bay fm newsroom – County Councillors have failed to agree on proposals for free parking in towns across the county following a marathon debate at County Hall.
A number of proposals were made in a bid to attract shoppers to towns across Galway by offering fixed or floating free parking periods.
The financial implications of the move were the subject of a two hour discussion at County Hall today.
The proposals include 2 hours free parking in the morning, or a free 2 hour parking allowance with every paid parking ticket of 20 cent or more.
The matter has come before the council on a number of occasions – but today, the recommendation of the Roads SPC was that the county’s paid parking system should be left as is.
Speaking on behalf of the Roads committee, Councillor Michael ‘Moegie’ Maher said two hours free parking every morning would cost the council up to 89 thousand euro a year.
The second proposal to provide a ‘floating’ two hours free parking with a 20 cent parking ticket would cost the council over 430 thousand euro a year.
Councillor Maher said in an ideal world, they’d love to recommend the implementation of free parking – but the council simply can’t afford it.
A number of councillors raised concerns about the condition of roads across Galway, and said any reduction in the council’s roads budget would have consequences for the road network.
Councillors Gerry Finnerty and Sean Cuniffe said a trial period had been promised to see how the scheme would work – but this trial has yet to materialise.
The Roads SPC will now look at the possibility of reducing the proposed free parking period from two hours to one hour in a bid to minimise the impact on the council’s roads budget.
A trial period will also be considered.
The matter will come before the full council again next month.
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