by Bernie English [email protected]
A SUGGESTION to have designated short-term car parking spaces for people who need to pop into city centre shops and leave again within a few minutes has been shot down.
At this week’s meeting of the Metropolitan District meeting of the City and County Council, Fine Gael councillor Daniel Butler proposed that spaces should be provided around the city for shoppers who are parking for just a few minutes to pick up goods at a particular shop.
“I’m asking for four or five spaces where people can solely pick up or drop off. A lot of people order on-line now and they just need a few minutes to stop off and pick up purchases,” he told the meeting.
He said he was referring particularly to specialist business such as tailors and butchers where customers have often ordered what they want in advance and need only a few minutes to collect their purchases.
Cllr Maria Byrne (FG) said that the “one thing we do have to our advantage in the city centre are niche businesses and we must do all we can to help them”.
Cllr John Gilligan (Ind) said that he agreed with the idea behind the motion but there was one obvious flaw.
“If we provide these spaces, who is going to police them? It certainly won’t be Limerick City and County Council”, he explained.
The meeting heard from council’s traffic department that drivers already have ten minutes grace in which traffic wardens will not issue tickets, while drivers delivering goods in loading bays have half an hour in which to unload.
In response, the traffic department said that on-street parking spaces are limited in number and it does not feel there is a need for specific spaces for short-term parking and designating them as such would confuse the issue.
