Kinnegad paid parking axed

Plans to install a paid parking system in Kinnegad were dealt a killer blow, after members of Westmeath County Council"s Mullingar Area Committee, debating the 2009 Budget report, voted to redirect funding elsewhere.A total of €30,000 in funding for pay and display machines, signage and road markings was chosen, as councillors redirected €90,000 in Estimates funding in favour of public lighting, traffic calming measures, and lighting for pedestrian crossings in Mullingar.The move was proposed by Cllr. Mick Dollard, who said that the paid parking system was 'unlikely to go ahead'; he was supported by the Committee Chairman, Cllr. Pat McLoughlin, and a number of other members.Late in 2007, the proposed paid parking system on Kinnegad"s Main Street seemed certain to proceed, after residents and business people in the town apparently missed a deadline to set forth their views on the matter.Angry traders viewed the paid parking system as an unfair tax on customers doing business in the town, while failing to address the problem of 'sleepers' - motorists occupying parking spaces on Main Street from morning to late evening, while commuting to Dublin by bus for a day"s work.Reacting to the news, Kinnegad businessman John Gildea said that traders in the town were still 'very keen' to work with Westmeath County Council in a bid to solve 'the long-term problems' posed by sleepers and all-day parking.Cllr. McLoughlin said that he was happy to see the funding being redirected.'As chair of the Area Committee, in the near future I will schedule a meeting between the Council Executive, my area colleagues, and the Kinnegad Business Association in a bid to progress the unsatisfactory parking situation in the town,' the Fine Gael man said.DisagreementWith the €30,000 siphoned off, and a local election on the horizon, unanimity turned into disagreement as councillors fought for the newly available funding.Cllr. Fintan Cooney (Fine Gael) proposed that the money be allotted towards providing better lighting at pedestrian crossings in the Mullingar area, while Cllr. Dollard argued that each of the nine Mullingar area members should be entitled to secure funding for one new public light.The scramble for funding was further complicated when Cllr. Detty Cornally (Labour) and others raised the need for extra money for traffic calming measures.'Could we not try to come up with a general fund for a lighting and traffic claming,' Cllr. Ken Glynn (Fianna Fáil) asked.'A bit like an á la carte menu,' his colleague, Cllr. Robert Troy quipped.Eventually, members reached a decision to take another €30,000 from standalone funding set aside for footpath upgrades, while another batch of €30,000 was sliced off the €93,279 allocated towards the planned local bus service for Mullingar, the future of which is in doubt.The combined total of €90,000 in funds will be reallocated to public lighting, lighting at pedestrian crosses, and traffic calming measures in the Mullingar area.