Free Saturday parking deal on Trimgate Street agreed

Shoppers in Navan will be able to avail of free parking on Trimgate Street on Saturday afternoons following the adoption of the town council's annual budget last week. It will now also be possible to pay for shorter periods of parking at Kennedy Place with a minimum charge of 30c applying. The charge for parking at Kennedy Place remains at €1.40 per hour, but councillors are to consider reducing the hourly rate next April, following a review of the situation there. Businesses, however, face a rates increase, as the council adopted a commercial rate of €62.1649. The council said it was obliged to bring in the 2.61 per cent increase because of the 2009 boundary extension which substantially increased the footprint of the Navan urban area. There was division over the annual budget with Sinn Fein, Labour and independent councillors voting for the estimates, and Fianna Fail and Fine Gael voting against. An amendment proposed by Cllr Shane Cassells to reduce parking charges at Kennedy Place immediately was defeated. The Mayor, Cllr Anton McCabe, had proposed that free parking be allowed at Trimgate Street from 2pm to 6pm on Saturdays in a bid to stimulate business. He proposed funding the cost of this from a portion of the €40,000 which had been allocated for the business and innovation fund. He also proposed diverting €3,000 from members' expenses to recreation and amenity. He further that the parking charge for Kennedy Place be amended to €1.40 per hour with a minimum charge of 30c so that it operates in the same manner as all the other short-stay car parks in the town. Cllr Cassells proposed reducing the charge at Kennedy Place to €1 immediately and to go to the Revenue Commissioners to make the case that parking in Kennedy Place should not be liable for VAT as there are paths in front of the shops. Cllr Joe Reilly asked how would they make up the shortfall. Cllr Cassells said there was already a €394,000 gap in this year's budget. He said that, in 2011, the budget estimated that parking would bring in €1.649m. The actual income fell short of that estimate by €394,000, but the same figure of €1.6m for parking was still in the 2012 budget. He asked what was going to change this year that would generate €400,000 additional income from parking in Navan? He said that lower charges would bring in more money as more people would use the car park there. "The figures clearly show that more money was brought in during 2009 on a €1 per hour mark than was brought in during 2010 and 2011 once the figures for VAT are deducted," Cllr Cassells added. Following a lengthy adjournment, the Labour, Sinn Fein and Indpendent grouping returned to the meeting with a proposal that the council monitor the parking income at Kennedy Place for the first three months of the year and, if the figures are proven, they would reduce the rate in April. Cllr McCabe said he would personally propose the reduction at the April council meeting if the figures were in order. The area manager, Larry Whelan, had told councillors that the draft budget for 2012 required an expenditure of €9,362,441 and the council had received an allocation of €392,283 from the Department of the Environment & Local Government, a decrease of €38,693 on the previous year. Mr Whelan pointed out that €250,000 had been allocated for the refurbishment of dwellings at Flower Hill Crescent, St Ultan's Terrace and St Brigid's Villas. Some €78,000 has been set aside for the 68-acre town park and €10,000 has been provided for the restoraton of the well at Academy Street and signage and public lighting at Old Cornmarket. A sum of €15,000 was budgeted for maintenance of The Unity Centre at Windtown and €40,000 was set aside for a business and innovation fund. Cllr Padraig Fitzsimons was critical of the fuunding received from central government and pointed out that Naas, a much smaller town, had received €1.5 million. Cllr Joe Reilly said Navan was the fourth largest town in Ireland but was receiving a lot less from the government than other towns of its size. He said the country was now a debt collection agency for foreign banks.