Parking enforcement decision questioned

I recently had the privilege of visiting Kenmare, Co Kerry one midweek morning.

The streets, shops & businesses were busy with commerce and there was a lively buzz, particularly welcome in the present economic climate. All was facilitated by two hours free parking, even in the centre of that attractive and prosperous town.

Contrast the situation on my return to Mallow: the streets were quiet, with many empty parking spaces even on the main thoroughfares. The reason is not just the recession, but the draconian parking measures implemented by our town council. Our town council have privatised parking and &in their wisdom have selected the very company which just last January did not have their contract renewed with Cork City Council.

Could the reason be, perhaps, that their enforcement of parking enraged residents and visitors alike? How our town council could not learn from the bitter experience of our near neighbours is beyond the wit of any rational person. A vibrant and prosperous town needs at its centre a strong shopping and commercial heart. Residents and visitors alike need to feel welcome in the centre of our town, otherwise they will, and are going elsewhere. A town without a vibrant centre becomes a suburb, a mere adjunct to somewhere else.

Is it too much to hope that the town council will reconsider the folly of their present policy? It is not beyond human ingenuity to devise a system that regulates parking, and at the same time extends a warm Mallow welcome to all who would come to the centre of our town to spend their hard-earned money.

Richard Trayer

Mallow

Co Cork