Hard choices to be made if free Saturday parking given go-ahead

COUNCILLORS in Ennis have been told they will have to make “very hard choices” of what local services to cut if they want to provide free parking on a Saturday. This week’s meeting of Ennis Town Council saw Councillor Johnny Flynn urge the local authority to follow the example of Nenagh Town by allowing free parking in public car parks on Saturdays for a trial six-month period.

 

However, the council executive stated that providing this would lead to a €90,000 shortfall in the budget that would have to be bridged.

According to Councillor Flynn, “Nenagh changed its parking regimes to stimulate the local economy, now there are people travelling 20 or 30 miles there and from Limerick to shop in a county town. The car parks here are very quiet on a Saturday afternoon.”

Responding to the motion, Leonard Cleary, town clerk, stated Ennis Town Council has piloted parking incentives during Christmas 2011 and 2012 and other initiatives have also been researched.
He outlined that a previous examination of the potential reduction of 10c an hour for parking indicated it would result in a loss of income of €82,367.

A potential reduction of the hourly charge to €1 has also been examined, and it has been indicated this would result in an income loss of €254,309.
According to Mr Cleary, “The council has undertaken a detailed examination of income from car parking. In 2012, parking income was €1,088,475. The proposal in the notice of motion for free parking on Saturdays for six months could result in losses of €90,000 approximately, based on the 2012 income.  As the budget for 2013 is now adopted, it is open to elected members to make submissions on expenditure reductions or income generation measures that can bridge the shortfall of €90,000 approximately that would arise from the proposal in a 2014 budget context. Essentially, elected members need to decide what services would not be delivered by the council.”

Councillor Flynn’s motion was seconded by Councillor Mary Howard who stated that if business improves in the town, it would lead to more income from rates.

Councillor Brian Meaney stated that while he is in favour of stimulating the economy, the question of what services would suffer would need to be addressed before any decision is made.

Councillor Michael Guilfoyle commented that he did not want to see other services suffer but if the money could be found for the proposal, he would support it. Councillor Frankie Neylon recalled he once said there should be no cost to park in the town. “That was until I got a good education in what is being provided in the town and how much it costs. If we give free parking on Saturday, I guarantee you the car parks will be full with people going to the match in Limerick and getting the bus.”

He continued, “We have to compete with Limerick and Galway with what we have available in Ennis, it’s the not the car parking that’s the problem, the problem is what we have in the town.” Councillor O’Shea supported the call for free parking, asking, “Why don’t we want to try something new?”

Mr Cleary stated, “The council takes the role of stimulating the economy very seriously”, adding, “There is no such thing as free parking, it costs the council”. He reiterated that the council needs to acheive a balanced budget and that “very hard choices would have to be made” if the authority had to fund parking.

Councillor Flynn disputed the council’s figures stating that as Saturday is not a busy time, the council losses would be more in the region of €50,000. “Each year, we budget for an increase in income from car parking and each year, it is down and the sky has not fallen in, we need flexibility,” he said.

Councillor Meaney said Nenagh’s situation differs from Ennis as they have an out-of-town centre. “I would love to see it happen but I want to see what services are going to be cut, I’m not voting for a pig in a poke,” he said. It was pointed out by Councillor Tommy Brennan that the budget for 2013 has already been adopted and that the issue would need to be addressed at estimates time. Councillor Flynn amended his motion to state the council consider, at budget time, the proposal, which was unanimously supported.