Fines on cards for Kinnegad ‘sleepers’

‘Sleepers’ – motorists who take buses to Dublin but leave their cars parked on the main street of Kinnegad all day – may get parking fines in the future.

Cllr Emily Wallace had a motion on the agenda for the November meeting of the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad asking that the town be included in the weekly schedule for traffic wardens.

Confirming that there is a two-hour parking limit on Kinnegad main street, the district responded that the town can be included in the traffic wardens’ schedule.

Cllr Wallace said that since the Covid restrictions have lifted and people are now back commuting and taking buses from Kinnegad, there has been a problem with “sleepers”.

“We have worked very hard within this council to get a car park for commuters to park safely, to have a lit-up area, and yet some are still taking up parking bays and the parking sections outside businesses all day,” she stated.

“They leave at half past seven in the morning and they’re not back till seven, eight o’clock in the evening. And that is not good enough for a small village – and we’re trying to promote shopping local.”

Cllr Wallace said business owners are anxious that the traffic wardens visit: “This was promised before, but it never came to fruition,” she said.

Cllr Denis Leonard supported the call: “In last few weeks, I had our director and manager walk down the main street from one end to the other, and what did we find? Every single car park space full, but nobody in the local businesses,” he stated.

He said in light of the intention to spend a lot of money rejuvenating the main street of Kinnegad, it was important that people can come and go from the businesses.

Cllr Leonard said the warden used to come to Kinnegad in the past, and it did have an effect, but then people started drifting back.

The deputy mayor, Cllr John Shaw, confirmed that the warden had been successful in the past, and he too was of the view that traffic warden visits should resume.