‘Being punished for bad planning’ over parking issues

Residents in Citywest with nowhere to park are “being punished for bad planning”, according to councillors.

Parking infrastructure continues to be an issue across the county, prompting calls for physical measures such as bollards to be installed along Citywest Avenue to prevent people “illegally parking” along footpaths.

“Such measures would help prevent vehicles from mounting footpaths and verges, protect pedestrian safety, and preserve the local environment,” Cllr Louise Dunne (SF) said in her motion on the issue at the Tallaght Area Committee meeting.

“I know that Gardaí are also very active in Citywest in enforcement in relation to illegal parking, however I do personally believe that with parking fines, tenants and residents up there are being punished for bad planning,” she said at the meeting on February 23.

“I don’t know what the answer is up we have very little space up there, but I am looking for the council to kind of look at some alternative solutions to alleviate the ongoing issue of parking and illegal parking in Citywest,” she added.

Cllr Jess Spear (PBP-S) supported the motion, but said she wanted to “push back against the idea that somehow we should roll back any of the objectives that we agreed around climate”, but that housing developments in South Dublin had to be supported by public transport.

“It does not mean that I support that somehow we’re planning our way out of this in terms of getting rid of car spaces,” she said.

“If you don’t have the public transport or active travel or that reduction in stress in people’s lives, that make them feel like they need a car, they need to be able to go where they need to go, when they need to go.”

In a written reply to Cllr Dunne, senior council engineer Farhan Nasiem said that despite the fact “bollards are already installed along significant sections of Citywest Avenue to protect the verge and discourage vehicle encroachment, some motorists are continuing to drive over footpaths and grass margins and are parking illegally”.

He said that installing additional bollards “within the middle of the footpath is not recommended” as it would create obstructions and “reduce accessibility for vulnerable pedestrians, including wheelchair users, mobility-impaired persons, and parents with prams”.

Mr Nasiem added that illegal parking and “misuse of the footway and verge is an enforcement matter” for An Garda Síochána”.

Addressing councillors in the chamber, the council’s senior engineer for roads design John Hegarty said that South Dublin County Council were examining “community car parks” as a temporary solution to alleviate the parking issue on Citywest Avenue.

“It has become clear that the delivery of public transport and other infrastructure that is the alternative is moving forward, but it’s not moving at the pace that we require,” he said.

He said SDCC are employing consultants to look “at the feasibility of spill over car parking”, but that they needed to be “very careful how we approach this”.

“It has to be a mobility hub with car parking, but there has to be an emphasis on car sharing as part of that solution.”

Mr Hegarty said that preventive measures, such as bollard and double lines “have not worked”, and the “evidence is there that cars are parking up on foot paths, cycle tracks and grass and causing a road traffic risk”.

“That’s a fact,” he stated.

“I am concerned about that being the traffic engineer, and I need to solve that – that can’t continue.”

He also said that while the council “are not in the business of trying to catch people”, he was not going to rule out increased enforcement by An Garda Síochána or council parking wardens.

“It’s very, very important that if we do these community parking schemes, that they’re temporary, because when we get the public transport in, they have to be repurposed maybe into some sort of residential amenity,” he added.

Cllr Dunne’s motion was passed following a roll call vote by councillors.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme