Review of Mayo parking charges as revenue drops

A REVIEW of car parking charges in Mayo has been requested.

There are opportunities to generate additional income while not penalising locals, the annual budget meeting of Mayo County Council was told.

Councillor Peter Flynn questioned why, since the abolition of town councils, has revenue from parking charges dropped.

In 2013, Ballina Town Council raised just under €852,000 from parking charges. In 2020, the sum raised was €456,000 - a drop of nearly 50%.

Castlebar Town Council, in 2013, raised €923,000. The sum in the county town last year was €587,000.

And Westport, he continued, had €193,000 in '13, while last year income was €315,000 - up 63%.

If you took the county as a whole, parking charges amounted to €2.3 million in 2013. Last year the figure was €1.5 million.

Councillor Flynn said let no one tell him Covid explained it all. It played a role, but in his view the eye has been taken off the ball for too long on key income sources into the county.

They were not looking to penalise locals but to get additional revenue from visitors coming into the county.

He cited places like Knock, the largest pilgrim site in the country. What do the council get from parking - 'zero'. Millions was being spent on Moorehall but there was nothing from parking revenue.

Other iconic locations included Downpatrick head and Keem Bay, with zero revenue. Yet in Murrisk, €40,000 was collected last year where there were no storage facilities, no bicycle facilities, and the toilet facilities were 'something like you'd get on a bus on the way to Cairo' they're that backward.

“If we can do it in Murrisk we can do it in other locations around this county,” said Councillor Flynn, and try and share the burden and get money for important services for people.

He proposed the audit committee do a review of the parking charges, explaining the drop of income since the town councils were abolished and with recommendations on how they go forward from 2022.

It is an opportunity to get additional income from visitors, not trying to penalise locals, he stated, and provide real services that matter to people.

Councillor Tom Connolly said towns around the county had 10 or 15 minutes free parking and in Westport they wanted an hour.

They had equalisation on commercial rates and there should be equalisation on car parking charges.

His Claremorris colleague Councillor Richard Finn agreed charges should be uniform around the county.

Councillor Brendan Mulroy made the point that charges are a reserve function for each municipal district.

With the reduction in revenue, Councillor Damie Ryan said the matter needed to be reviewed around the county in each district.