Revision for fees on Westport street parking passed

A proposal for the changes to on-street parking in a prominent west Mayo town have been passed.

At a special meeting of the Westport-Belmullet municipal district in the council chamber in Castlebar today, the sole topic on the agenda was the revision to fees for on street parking in Westport.

The issue of parking charges in Westport has been a hotly debated topic, especially in the run up to the local elections last year.

The revision of these fees sees that on street charges will not apply prior to 9.30 a.m., the first hour of parking at a designated area in Westport Harbour will be free and that annual/monthly charges will be reduced from €200 per year/€20 per month to €150 per year/€15 per month.

Independent Councillor Christy Hyland has welcomed these changes but warned that if the General Municipal Allocation (GMA) is interfered with in any way as a result of these changes, he would propose that the new parking regulations be suspended.

Director of services, Catherine McConnell, thanked the members for making the changes to these byelaws to make them more acceptable.

Addressing Councillor Hyland's concerns, she stated that she was not aware of any proposal to make changes to the GMA.

Fine Gael Councillor Peter Flynn said that parking was a highly contentious item during the local elections and thanked the executive for recognising the comments of councillors, residents, business owners and other interested parties around the town that tweaks had to be made the current system, adding that in his view parking meters was a step up from the parking discs and that the yearly parking fee being reduced to €150 is a step forward.

Councillor Flynn also proposed that for the end of year budget, the county council have a scheme across the board that all ratepayers are treated equally.

Independent Councillor Johnny O'Malley also welcomed the changes, saying that the reduction to the yearly parking fee is a help to all, although that there are workers who are part-time and on minimum wage who will still have to pay this annual rate.

He also supported Councillor Flynn's proposal on the subject of rates for business people in Mayo.

“Some businesses are trying their best and doing their best but it's not easy with social distancing,” he said.