Kildare councillors reject parking tariff rate changes in MD
Councillors from the Celbridge-Leixlip Municipal District vote to defer a decision on tariff rates
A move by Kildare County Council to amend the public parking tariff rate charges for Leixlip and Celbridge has been deferred to a later date, following a decision by local councillors.
The matter of parking tariffs was raised on the agenda as two separate items in a recent meeting of Celbridge-Leixlip Municipal District.
The agenda items effectively proposed that the public parking tariff rate charges in Celbridge and Leixlip be increased, which Cathaoirleach Cllr David Trost (FF) conceded had not happened “in quite some time.”
Speaking first at the meeting, Cllr Bernard Caldwell (FF) suggested that councillors be given more time to discuss the implications of changing the parking tariff rates.
“We all agree”, he said, “that change is needed and badly needed”, but added there was a need to discuss the matter further.
Cllr Trost responded by saying he would “prefer” if the matter were dealt with today, as all discussion should have already taken place.
Also speaking at the meeting, Cllr Nuala Killeen (SD) said that when parking in Leixlip was compared with Newbridge and Naas, those two towns had “tonnes of parking” compared to Leixlip.
It was her opinion therefore, she stated, that Leixlip should be “exempt” from the proposed fifty cent rise in parking fees.
It was a “tough” sell to try to increase the price of anything, Cllr Rupert Heather (LAB) said, but added the problem with parking fees is that they are operating at a loss, and are affecting the LPT budget.
He said that ultimately what was needed was a parking fee system that worked and which returned a profit, otherwise the community would end up paying for it in another way.
Echoing Cllr Killeen's sentiments, Cllr Claire O'Rourke (SD) said that while she understood the need to increase parking tariffs across the municipal district, there were “so few” parking spaces available in Celbridge in particular that she would have to be against such a move.
She said that should it be a case that parking places were increased in Celbridge, she would have “no problem” in voting for increases, but as it stood, she was against it.
Cllr Bernard Caldwell (FF) again called for both agenda items to be postponed “until we have a chance to have a better look at it.”
A council official agreed that the agenda items could be deferred until a later time, but pointed out that this would have to take the form of a special meeting, given that the budget meeting is November 23 next.
Following unanimous agreement, it was agreed to postpone the agenda items to a later date.