A MOVE by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to introduce pay and display parking schemes in residential areas has met with strong opposition from locals.
The council is proposing to create seven new pay and display areas partly to compensate for a reduction in its revenue after councillors persuaded it to bring down commercial rates by two per cent in its budget for 2013.
The council expects to generate up to
?¬200,000 by implementing the new pay and display schemes at seven different locations across the county.
The new schemes will be located at Killiney DART Station car park, where 87 parking bays will be installed; Station Road, Killiney (18 bays); and Carysfort Avenue, Blackrock (51 bays).
Two separate pay and display schemes of 73 bays and 19 bays will be located on the Stillorgan Road.
Another two schemes will be located in Cherrywood, with one of 22 bays located on the Cherrywood Road and another off the Cherrywood Roundabout on the Wyattville Link Road (92 bays).
The council intends to charge e1 per hour for parking at the new locations, with the exception of the scheme at the Hill on the Stillorgan Road, where motorists will pay
?¬1.50 per hour.
Ronan Coffey, spokesman for the Carysfort Avenue Residents’ Association, said locals were concerned that commuters trying to avoid paying the new charges on Carysfort Avenue would instead park in nearby residential areas.
“We know for sure that we will suffer increased pressure as commuters will almost certainly seek to avoid paying for parking,
? he said.
“The side effect of this action will be to further push commuter parking into these already chronic and sometimes dangerously overloaded roads in an area that has a high population mix of elderly and young children.
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He added:
“Residents in Carysfort Park are increasingly frustrated by cars blocking their driveways and parking on pavements, as well as illegal parking at junctions and intersections.
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Cllr Barry Ward (FG) said he did not think that introducing new pay and display schemes in residential areas was an appropriate way of raising revenue for the council.
“You should be putting them in where there is local demand for them, but it seems that they are getting in by the back door,
? he said.
Cllr Victor Boyhan (Ind) said:
“When the pay and display schemes are introduced motorists are just going to park in residential areas like Avondale and Carysfort Park to avoid the charges.
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A spokesperson for the council said that as a result of reduced income, total council expenditure declined by 18 per cent or
?¬40 million between 2008 and 2012.
“During the same period the council has been sensitive to the difficulties faced by the business sector and has reduced commercial rates by two per cent in 2010 and 2011 with a further two per cent reduction agreed for 2013,
? he said.
“It is against this background that a number of pay and display schemes were adopted as part of Budget 2013.
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He added:
“It is expected that revenue generated from this stream will be in the order of
?¬200,000.
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