THE DECISION to implement free parking on Saturdays in Portlaoise may not be cut and dry, despite popular local support.
The prospect of free parking on Saturday in Portlaoise will be debated in the next two weeks.
Currently, there is 30 minutes free parking six days a week, but there is strong support from local councillors to expand it to free parking on Saturdays.
At a recent town council meeting, councillors were told that the issue would be discussed by the Portlaoise parking byelaw committee following an internal review in the roads section.
Speaking to the Laois Nationalist, a spokesperson for the roads section said that they would be looking at the “implications” of both continuing the 30 minutes free parking and the possibility of free parking on Saturdays.
“We are gathering information and we will be talking to the warden. There are things that can’t be legislated for. There won’t be a rush to a decision,” he said.
The spokesperson said to implement free parking would raise issues in regards to staffing and may not be feasible. The 30 minutes free parking had also had its own hitches.
“We had a few issues like people coming back into town with a parking ticket on the dashboard that was out two hours.
A ticket would be written, but they would come back and say they were availing of the 30 minutes free parking. There are issues like that which will have to be teased out,” he said.
Portlaoise councillor Willie Aird said everything in the council’s power should be done to promote local business.
“We are into a new year and the signs are it’s not going to be any better than last year and it even might be worse. Nobody wants to see that. We should be open to it and what would be best to promote Portlaoise,” he said.