New parking laws for New Ross will clampdown on electric vehicles but won’t lead to increase in disabled spaces

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

Proposed new parking laws in New Ross will impose time limits on the use of charging bays for electric vehicles and regulate the distribution of permits for residents. However, the proposed by-laws will not result in additional disabled parking bays in the town despite the concerns of local councillors.

At the April meeting of the New Ross Municipal District (NRMD), Siobhán Lynn and Dermot Wallace from Wexford County Council’s (WCC) roads department explained that, under the new by-laws, EV charging will be “formalised”, meaning the “notion of free parking while you’re charging your vehicle” will be no more.

In addition, small business owners will be able to avail of a permit for non-commercial vehicles which will allow them to use public parking spaces to load goods into their premises from 8.30 – 10 a.m. There will also be “greater clarity and consistency on how permits are issued” which will “reduce opportunities for misuse of permits”.

However, increased parking for those with disabilities was at the forefront of the minds of councillors John Dwyer and Michael Sheehan.

“There seems to be a reluctance on the part of WCC to allow the creation of new blue badge parking spaces,” noted Cllr Dwyer. “I’m concerned this is going to become an issue in the future.”

“The Bullawn needs two of them,” agreed Cllr Sheehan. “People with mobility issues can’t get access to their houses because of the number of cars parked there, this is going to be a problem in residential, confined areas with a high number of older people. It’s difficult for people to understand why they can’t have a space outside their house.”

But having an exclusive disabled parking bay is not feasible in town centre residences accordinng to Mr Wallace.

“There’s streets around the county where, if you put a disabled bay outside someone’s house, the probability is it will be taken by someone else. If it’s in the town centre anyone can park there.”

With a nationwide focus on bringing vacant units above shops back into use, Cllr Sheehan also foresaw problems for those living in the town centre.

“Older people who live over a shop and may not qualify for a blue badge, where do they go? We’re going to pushing them into the paid parking areas,” he said.

“It’s not just the elderly, everybody wants to park outside their own house,” replied Mr Wallace. “The districts issue the permits to residents, but I don’t know how we can meet everyone's need.”

District manager Alan Fitzhenry agreed, stressing that the retailers had to take priority.

“You’re talking about town centre parking, and all the businesses are calling for access to their shops,” he said. “If you have residents parking there all day then people can’t come in to shop. The town centre is very small and most of the car parks are within a short walking distance.”