‘Don’t shoot the messenger!’ – Pay parking mooted for Louth village as commuters filling up spaces

By Olivia Ryan, The Drogheda Independent

Commuters ‘pool parking’ in Blackrock are impacting businesses along the Main Street, as parking spaces for customers are reduced, it emerged this week.

Cllr. Maeve Yore said business owners had highlighted to her that the practice of shared driving resulted in cars parked up all day in the busy coastal village.

She asked if the council could arrange patrols over a few weeks in the village to monitor the parking spaces.

“Businesses are telling me this is happening, that it’s really having an impact on the spaces left to park, and if we would consider pay parking?”

She added: “Don’t shoot the messenger!"

Director of Service at Louth County Council, Bernie Woods said Blackrock is not covered by any pay parking scheme at present.

She said the council would not have the resources to monitor areas that are outside pay parking zones.

"These are free parking zones and people can park in them. There are no restrictions on them at the moment, and unless the bylaws are changed you can’t enforce something when there are no rules around it.”

She added that a full review of pay parking will get underway over the next twelve months.