VOTE NO TO CLAMPING

Cumann Phobail Dhún Laoghaire
Dún Laoghaire Community Association

Press Statement
12th April 2008

COUNTY COUNCILLORS TO DECIDE FATE OF LOCAL JOBS

On Monday 14th April 2008 County Councillors in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown are to be asked to vote for the introduction of Car-Clamping as a measure to combat illegal parking and the non-payment of parking fines.

Residents and businesses are united in their total opposition to the introduction of this unnecessary and utterly draconian measure by the County Manager.

Dún Laoghaire has become a large and very expensive municipal car-park since the introduction of the pay-n-display system in 2002. Originally intended to free-up and rotate the existing parking spaces in the Town Centre, it now deters shoppers and frightens off visitors to the Town. It’s now nothing short of a municipal tax on vehicle owners and ultimately, a stealth tax on business.

With high parking fees and over eager Traffic Wardens ready to pounce, shoppers are going elsewhere and local businesses are suffering as a result. Residents are forced to purchase parking permits for themselves and for anybody visiting their homes wishing to park on the street outside. Once proud citizens of the Town many residents now simply describe themselves as living in a vast municipal car-park and merely customers of the County Council.

Dún Laoghaire currently has in excess of thirty vacant retail units on and around its main street, George’s Street. Undoubtedly this number will greatly increase as the existing shoppers, already very resentful of the excessively high parking fees, will not risk falling prey to private contract clampers and simply shop elsewhere.

Local jobs, already under extreme pressure from the existing parking regime, will most certainly be lost on the introduction of car-clamping. This alone shows the absolute folly of this proposal from the County Manager as any fines and penalties recovered will be miniscule in comparison to the loss to the Council in commercial rates through business closures.

Dún Laoghaire Community Association urges all of our County Councillors to protect local jobs by VOTING NO TO CLAMPING and by demanding that the County Manager give an explanation as to how his proposal on car-clamping is in the interest of the community as required by Article 28A.1 of Bunreacht na hÉireann.

Michael Merrigan
Chairperson
Dún Laoghaire Community Association