According to Labour Councillor Keith Martin on-street parking charges in Westport could sound the "death knell" for small shops in Westport town centre as Cllr Martin claims the new charge will encourage shoppers to use larger supermarkets such as Tesco and Supervalu which are able to offer free parking.
Cllr Martin continues "If we bring in on-street parking charges we end up penalising small businesses within the town core as we effectively encourage shoppers to avail of free parking elsewhere in Westport or even Castlebar.
"There is absolutely no point in reducing rates and then making it more expensive to shop in Westport town core. Grocery, butchers, florists and clothes shops are already finding it hard enough to keep their doors open without Westport Town Council driving away customers through an opportunistic parking charge.
"Car parking charges drive everybody mad, as on top of been charged a fortune for petrol, car tax, insurance and other car running cost, you also have to pay for the privilege to stop driving your car and park it somewhere! The car is a necessity in the west of Ireland where public transport is practically non-existent.
"In addition to this in order to bring in on-street parking charges they would have to place horrible plastic green ticket machines up and down our streets, taking away from Westport's beauty as a Heritage and Tidy Town.
"I shall be calling on Fine Gael and Cllr Martin Keane to vote against the bylaws when they come before the council later in the spring. It's time we shouted STOP!"
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