Surfers claim parking fees providing no return

Lahinch is only the second seaside resort along the west coast where car-parking charges are levied adjacent to the local beach, a businessman has claimed.
Apart from Bundoran in County Donegal, West Coast Surf Club spokesman Tom Buckley pointed out no other local authority levies parking charges for people who use the adjoining promenade or beach along the western seaboard. No parking charges are levied in Salthill, Galway.
Mr Buckley made the claim after Councillor Bill Slattery called on Clare County Council to carry out an audit of the €611,668 in revenue collected from parking fees and fines in Lahinch over a three-year period.
Mr Buckley claimed the council had earned huge sums of money from car-parking charges at the local promenade but had spent nothing in the local area. Having written to the council requesting a replacement of the rusting railings on a number of occasions, Mr Buckley said he only got one acknowledgement and no proper reply to his legitimate requests.
He pointed out that the council was no longer providing a public toilet for tourists and visitors following the closure of the old public convenience a few years ago, which had fallen into a state of disrepair. He said tourists were forced to use pubs, which wasn’t ideal.
He called on the council to invest all of the money from car-parking charges and fines into upgrading public facilities in Lahinch.
Responding to Mr Buckley’s claims, a council spokesman said the project for replacement of railings is proceeding and noted the area engineer is currently finalising arrangements.
“The Lahinch promenade upgrade project is with Fáilte Ireland for funding under the Tourism Product Development scheme. The council are very hopeful that major elements of the project will proceed. Funding of the project will require matching funding from the county council,” he said.