Wexford council refusing ‘point-blank’ to designate disabled parking bays outside New Ross town centre
Wexford PeopleA fight to get disabled parking bays in The Bullawn, New Ross, is being stymied by a Wexford County Council (WCC) staff member who refuses “point-blank” to allocate spaces there.
Raising the issue at the September meeting of the New Ross Municipal District (NRMD), Councillor John Dwyer said he had repeatedly requested blue badge spaces be designated in The Bullawn to assist residents who struggle to walk to and from their cars.
“The Access Officer at WCC point-blank refuses to put blue badge spaces anywhere in New Ross. I was previously told it was the municipal district which decides where blue badge spaces go, but that’s not the case,” he said. “The Access Officer is denying us, to the point of being quite abrupt. The power to make these decisions has been given over to one person in WCC. It’s astonishing.”
He was supported by Cllr Michael Sheehan who said he had also been in contact with the Access Officer regarding the allocation of disabled parking bays.
Having asked whether councillors could alter the parking bye-laws to include the provision of blue badge spaces outside the town centre, Cllr Sheehan received a response from senior staff officer Dermot Wallace.
“You could decide to designate it as a residential permit parking area only,” said Mr Wallace. “Residents would then apply for their permits, and we’d take out the parking machines. If there are areas which require disability bays we can put them in, but there’s no guarantee the residents will get those spaces.”
Under the bye-laws, councillors can only alter parking legislation in the centre of town and, as director of services Eamonn Hore explained, every effort had been made to accommodate blue badge holders in public car parks.
“All the blue badge spaces that went in Foley’s, the Dunbrody, JFK, were put in by us,” he said. “They were put in specific spots, close to the footpaths.
“The difference with The Bullawn is it’s outside the town centre zone.”
Separately, Mr Hore said the council had opted not to establish free one-hour parking in New Ross.
“There are 981 parking spaces in the town, that doesn’t include the private car parks,” he said. “If we made the first hour free the income for the NRMD would reduce by €237,000 a year.
“Making the first hour free would also reduce the number of spaces available and lead to people cruising around looking for free parking.”