NAAS, 22 October: by Trish Whelan. Naas UDC has agreed draft Pay Parking Bye-Laws for the town. They are due to come into effect on 1 February 2002. The plans cover pay parking on Main Street, side streets and in Council car parks. They will now go on public display for a six-week period.
The draft Bye-Laws were drawn up by town engineer John McGowan, and were adopted last week by Naas councillors. The reason for the new Bye-Laws is to crack down on illegal parking.
Pay to park will operate from 8.30am to 6.30pm, Mondays-Saturdays inclusive. Exceptions will be Sundays and Bank Holidays. “When your time is up, you can’t refeed the machine to stay longer but must go on to a different park,” Mr McGowan explained.
Motorists who outstay their time limit will face an on-the-spot fine of £15. It was stated that the revenue collected will be spent on works around the town.
Town manager Tommy Skehan has already said the money from pay parking will go towards repaying the £2.5m loan the Council took out to buy Hedderman’s Yard as a carpark.
Last week, town clerk Declan Kirrane said the whole success of the scheme depends on the level of enforcement.
Under the scheme, the town will be divided into three different parking zones. Zone A, with 110 parking spaces, involves the town centre. It covers Main Street South, Market Square, Main Street North, Dublin Road and Poplar Square. Maximum stay is one hour at a charge of Euro 1.00. Minimum purchase is 15 minutes at 20 cents.
The one hour limit is to encourage a quick turn around of parking to aid businesses in the commercial centre of town.
Zone B, with 240 spaces, allows for up to 2-hour parking at a cost of 50 cents an hour. Increments of 50c and one euro will also apply.
Areas include Kilcullen Road, New Row, Sallins Road, Friary Road, Railway Tce, Rathasker Road, Loughbui, Corban’s Lane, Harbour View, Canal Street, Abbey Street carpark and the upper part of Corban’s Lane carpark.
Zone C, with 270 spaces, provides for long-term and all-day parking in Hedderman’s car park (110 spaces) and possibly the lower end of Corban’s Lane car park (160 spaces). The charge works out at around £1 day.
Employees and commuters can apply to Naas UDC for a special monthly rate of Euro 30.00 to cover all-day parking (about £24 a month). This applies only to Hedderman’s Yard (off Friary Road) and depending on demand, may apply to a designated section at the lower end of Corban’s Lane car park.
The rate to park will be E 0.40 an hour, increments of a minimum 20 cents, 50c and E1 will also apply. It will cost E 2.00 to park all-day. The 40 cents an hour charge is lower than side streets to encourage off-street parking.
Town engineer John McGowan said resident parking will be allowed for those whose normal place of residence is within the areas where the pay and display scheme will operate.
Such residents will have to apply directly to the Council for a parking permit. The Council is to circulate an explanatory leaflet advising them of the details.
Mr McGowan said, if it becomes necessary, the scheme will be extended to include housing estates close to the town centre.
However Cllr Pat McCarthy said he was unhappy that these housing estates were not included at this stage. He said ‘it’s inevitable motorists will try to get free parking in the estates making life more difficult for the residents’. He said the Council should provide stickers for people in estates to identify them as residents of the area.
Cllr Charlie Byrne asked if Naas Chamber of Commerce had made any comments about the draft Pay Parking Bye-Laws.
Declan Kirrane replied that councillors were only approving the draft plans at this stage. He said 95% of the people had not realised when plans had previously gone on public display.
Cllr Seamie Moore said it was important that people realise the plan also identifies proposed taxi stations in the town.
An amendment to the draft plans was proposed by Cllr Anthony Egan that the UDC identifies a park and ride area on the outskirts of town.
The town clerk said the multi-storey car park being built by BABA Exports on the Sallins Road will provide 200 spaces by Christmas. He said the charge for these spaces has yet to be agreed with the Council.
The deadline for submissions following the public display of the draft plans is 31 November. The plans will go before the UDC’s December meeting for decision.
©2001knn