Pressure for council to clamp cars
Visitors to Aras Chill Dara risk being clamped.
VISITORS to the Kildare County Council offices (Aras Chill Dara) in Naas face the prospect of being clamped if they park illegally.
The public car park there has a number of spaces marked specifically for disabled drivers as well as some spaces reserved for senior council officials and some councillors.
However members of the public are coming under fire for using disabled spaces they are not entitled to.
Naas councilor Seamie Moore said he is not in favour of clamping but the parking habits of people visiting Aras Chill Dara “are completely out of hand.”
He added: “People are parking in disabled spaces and have no concern about others.”
“Clamping is the only alternative,” said Cllr.
Moore. Naas Town council does not clamp cars on the main street.
Cllr. Darren Scully condemned people who use disabled spaces.
“You can’t legislate for stupidity. Anybody who does this is a moron,” said Cllr. Scully.
County council official Annette Aspell conceded that the issue of able bodied people taking up spaces in the accessible parking bays “has been a problem for some time now.”
She said that despite “vigilance and monitoring by the council’s security and caretaking staff” the situation is continuing.
The council is currently doing some upgrading work on the council car park and this includes newly laid out and coloured accessible spaces which will make them more visible.
The council hopes that visitors will be deterred visitors from using the spaces “to the detriment of genuinely disabled drivers.”
In the past the council has had discussions with the private parking regulation company APCOA, who provide a clamping service for Kildare County Council in Newbridge.
It emerged that APCOA is prepared to provide a clamping service in Aras Chill Dara car park for an annual payment of €300.
In return APCOA would deal with all legal issues and any complaints arising – a development which would in all likelihood lead to a spate of clamping.
KCC is currently considering whether to sign a contract with APCOA for the council car park.
- Paul O’Meara
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Weather for Naas, Ireland
Wednesday 19 June 2013
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 12 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South
